Shares in JD Wetherspoon fell 11 percent last week following the publication of the operator’s interim financial update, which revealed that despite sales for the 26 weeks to 25 January 2026 reaching a record £1.087bn, rising costs saw pretax profit decline 32 percent to £22.4m. The most important contribution keeping glass half full were the machines on the Spoons floor which recorded a 9 percent uplift.
JD Wetherspoon has reported pretax profit for the 26 weeks to 25 January 2026 fell 32 percent to £22.4m, despite the pub giant chalking up “record” sales of £1.087bn for the period, an increase of 5.7 percent year on year.
Operating profit was also down, falling 3 percent from £64.8m to £52.9m, as the operator continues to face higher costs, with wages up by £28m, repairs up by £10m, and business rates up by £9m.
“The hospitality industry has struggled in the aftermath of the pandemic. Wetherspoon sales in the first half of FY26 were £1,088m a 22 percent increase (£198m) compared with the pre-pandemic first half of FY19,” said chair Tim Martin.
“At the same point in FY19, the company had 85 more pubs, so sales per pub were 35.4 percent higher in the period under review – above inflation. However, costs of energy (up 80 percent) and wages (up 61.1 percent), for example, which have a major influence on almost all input prices, rose more than sales.”
Martin also cited “substantial tax and cost increases” that have been imposed on the UK hospitality industry, including “a plethora of stealth taxes (non-domestic electricity charges; climate change levies; packaging charges etc), by recent governments,” as being responsible for keeping profits below pre-pandemic levels.
Like-for-like sales for the half year period increased by 4.8 percent, with bar sales up 7 percent and food up 1.3 percent. The only shining star in the Wetherspoon sky were the slot/fruit machines which delivered a substantial increase in revenue, rising 8.9 percent from £35.5m to £38.4m.
Martin added that like-for-like sales in the seven weeks to 15 March were up 2.6 percent, but added that “clearly considerable pressure on consumer finances, combined with higher taxes, wages and energy costs for the hospitality industry.”
“This may result in profits that are slightly below current market expectations.”
The announcement prompted an 11 percent decline in the company’s share price, which Bloomberg described as “the biggest intraday decline in a year and adding to a 16 percent slide this year before today.”
Industry under pressure
Tim Martin said… “clearly considerable pressure on consumer finances, combined with higher taxes, wages and energy costs for the hospitality industry. This may result in profits that are slightly below current market expectations…
