J D Wetherspoon Plc (JDW.L) Wednesday said in its trading update for the 13 weeks ended April 26, that total sales rose 4.1 percent during the period. Looking ahead, the company said that profits may come in slightly below market outlook due to the increased costs in the hospitality sector.
The British pub company said that year-to-date or YTD total sales were up 4.9 percent.
Like-for-like sales rose by 3.4 percent during the quarter compared to the same period last year. For YTD, like-for-like sales increased by 4.3 percent.
During the YTD period, J D Wetherspoon said that it opened eight pubs and sold eight. It now operates 794 managed pubs, along with 21 franchised pubs. There have also been 13 new franchised openings this year, the company said in an official statement.
Additionally, it purchased the freehold ownership of four pubs for a total of 12.2 million pounds. This brings the total amount spent on freehold reversions since 2011 to 489 million pounds.
Commenting on the developments, Chairman of JD Wetherspoon, Tim Martin, said, "The company has a strong pipeline of new pubs and planned openings include Manchester airport, Heathrow airport, Paddington station, Charing Cross station, and Shaftesbury Ave in central London. As many hospitality operators, including Wetherspoon, have reported, there have been substantial increases in costs, which may result in profits slightly below market expectations."
On the LSE, JDW.L is currently up 0.29 percent on Wednesday's trading at 584.69 pence.
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