JD Wetherspoon is planning to axe more pubs.

JD Wetherspoon is planning to offload more pubs amid slowing sales and «substantially higher» costs for staff, food and repairs. Most of the closures are near existing Wetherspoon pubs, but it comes as inflation and a tightening of consumer spending pile more pressure on the hospitality sector. «Sales have improved since the ending of restrictions in the early part of this calendar year and are considerably above the same period in the last financial year». However, the group recorded a 1.1 per cent drop in like-for-like sales in the five weeks to November 6 compared with pre-pandemic trading in 2019, having risen by 1.5 per cent in the previous nine weeks. Set against a year ago, sales rose by 10.1 per cent in the first nine weeks of its financial year and were 8.9 per cent higher in the past five weeks. The company said it had terminated most of its interest rate swaps, receiving £169.4 million after costs, leaving it with net debt as of last week of £745 million, down from £892 million on July 31. In annual results published last month, Wetherspoon said its sales were more than £1.7 billion in the year to the end of July, up from £773 million previously. Wetherspoon cut annual underlying pre-tax losses from £167 million to £30.4 million, although it made a profit of £132 million before the pandemic.

Analysts said Wetherspoon would be looking to the football World Cup, followed by Christmas trading to give it a lift in sales. Wetherspoon shares, which have fallen by more than 50 per cent this year, were down a further 30¾p, or 6.3 per cent, at 457½p yesterday.

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