(Reuters) -British pub group J D Wetherspoon reported a more than 10% rise in annual adjusted pretax profit on Friday, helped by resilient demand for its budget-friendly drinks and pub grub.
After a post-pandemic recovery in sales, the British hospitality sector is under renewed pressure as high inflation and rising living costs threaten to curb consumer spending.
The upcoming budget in November has also raised fears of potential tax hikes, adding to cost burdens from higher wages and national insurance contributions.
“Cost increases such as these will undoubtedly add to underlying inflation in the UK economy, although Wetherspoon, as always, will endeavour to keep price increases to a minimum,” Chairman Tim Martin said in a statement.
However, customers continue to flock to the pub group, drawn by its low-price model as they try to rein in spending.
The company said it expects a “reasonable outcome” for its current financial year, though rising government-imposed costs, including energy, could affect performance.
Total sales in fiscal 2025 rose 4.5% from the prior year to 2.13 billion pounds ($2.86 billion), it said.
Before separately disclosed items, the company reported an adjusted pre-tax profit of 81.4 million pounds for the year ended July 27, compared with 73.9 million pounds last year.
($1 = 0.7444 pounds)
(Reporting by Nithyashree R B and Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)
