Leading pub companies JD Wetherspoon and Stonegate both reported a marked increase in sales during the festive period, however, questions remain over continued profitability going into the new year as cost pressures mount.

Both JD Wetherspoon and Stonegate enjoyed a strong festive period in 2024 reporting a significant rise in like-for-like sales, however the pub groups have acknowledged that 2025 is likely to be a challenging year.

In its recent trading update, Wetherspoon announced that sales at its 796 pubs rose 4.6 percent in the 12 weeks to 26 January, while sales at Stonegate’s 234 managed pubs rose 9.7 percent on the same period in 2023.

“Performance across the group was encouraging over the festive period, with particularly strong sales in our managed pub estate,” said Stonegate CEO David McDowall. “It was also pleasing to see the momentum in our bar and venues estate over the period.”

“Craft Union pubs trade particularly well when guests go out more locally, and we saw this play out during the season.”

Sales across Stonegate’s bars and venues increased 4.1 percent, while the company’s wet-led brand Craft Union alone delivered record sales of £8m.

For JD Wetherspoon, the main three-week festive period saw sales increase by 6.1 percent, while the past 25 weeks saw increases across all revenue verticals, with gaming delivering the biggest uptick of 12 percent.

Though the group is confident of a “reasonable outcome” for the full year, chair Tim Martin predicted company debt will increase from £660m to as much as £700m, due to an increase in costs.

“From 1 April 2025 labour-related costs at Wetherspoon will increase by around £60m per annum,” said Martin. “Government-mandated wage increases have a significantly bigger impact on pub and restaurant companies than supermarkets.”