Driven by strong food and drink demand – and, if half-year trends have continued, a solid gaming performance – JD Wetherspoon has reported a 5.1 percent sales increase in its latest trading update, with full-year profits expected to meet market forecasts.

JD Wetherspoon is set to open around 30 new pubs in the upcoming financial year, following a 5.1 percent rise in like-for-like sales over the 12 weeks to 20 July 2025. 

In a trading update, chairman Tim Martin credited the weather for boosting performance in the final quarter and confirmed expectations that full-year profits will be in line with market forecasts, despite mounting tax and labour costs.

“In the next financial year, as well as investing in areas such as staff rooms, glass racks for ‘branded’ glasses, and gardens, the company plans to open approximately 15 new managed pubs and about the same number of franchised pubs,” he commented. “Sales volumes, which were very slow post-pandemic, have recently overtaken pre-pandemic levels.”

Martin added that draught beer is performing well, particularly Guinness, and that food sales have bounced back, with breakfasts now significantly ahead of pre-Covid levels. Chicken dishes, he explained, have seen particularly strong demand, with volumes rising by about 50 percent in recent weeks compared to pre-pandemic figures. The trading update contained no news on the company’s gaming performance, which reached record revenues of £35.5m in the operator’s half-year report, marking a 12.4 percent year-on-year rise and a 60 percent increase over the last six years. But it would be unlikely to see that contribution move against trend in the latest quarter.

Wetherspoon has opened three new pubs so far this year while offloading nine, with the company now operating a total of 794 sites across the UK.

Spooning it

Tim Martin said…… “In the next financial year, the company plans to open approximately 15 new managed pubs and about the same number of franchised pubs……