Profits at budget boozer chain JD Wetherspoon have rocketed by more than £31million in a year, the beloved pub firm has revealed.
In a staggering jump in finances, it reported pre-tax profits surged by almost eight-fold to £36million for the year to January – up from £4.6million the year before.
Total sales at the booze chain giant hit £991miillion, a hike of 8.2 per cent as more punters appear to be turning to the discount chain over local independents, where the price of an average pint has soared due to ballooning costs.
Like-for-like sales grew by 7.4 per cent for the year, with this now 15.3 per cent ahead of pre-pandemic levels from 2019. The company recorded revenues of £991 million for the year to January, up from £916 million a year earlier.
The news comes as the beloved boozer chain’s boss, Sir Tim Martin, today pledged to keep the price of traditional breakfasts the same despite the soaring cost of food which has gone up 25 per cent, telling LBC: ‘It will not go up this year.’
Wetherspoon boss Sir Tim Martin, today pledged to keep the price of traditional breakfasts the same despite the soaring cost of food
It comes as Wetherspoon reported pre-tax profits surged by almost eight-fold to £36million for the year to January – up from £4.6million the year before (pictured is one of its pubs in Clapham)
Sir Tim said the price of food had gone up 25 per cent as he pledged to freeze the cost of traditional breakfasts for the year
Speaking about the company’s growth, Sir Tim claimed like-for-like sales had grown 5.8 per cent so far in February and March as it continued to witness an improvement in demand from customers.
Wetherspoon financial surge comes despite a recent reduction in its pub stock, with the company having 814 venues compared with a peak of 955 in December 2015.
But despite the reduction in outlets, Wetherspoon said total sales are now about one third higher than in 2015 – before the pandemic obliterated the hospitality industry – with sales per boozer ballooning by about 50 per cent since.
News of Wetherspoon profits comes as some of the nation’s favourite waterholes continue to battle for their survival, with 29 closing each week to start a new life as a takeaway, shop, mosque or family home.
Chiefs at the much-loved pub firm have plans in place to boost the current fleet of boozers up to 1,000 in the UK. ]
Examples of recent pub openings include the Captain Flinders near Euston Station, the Stargazer at The O2 and The Star Light at Heathrow Airport.
The company said: ‘In the last decade, there has been a reduction in the number of trading Wetherspoon pubs, which peaked at 955 in December 2015.
Sir Tim claimed like-for-like sales had grown 5.8 per cent so far in February and March as it continued to witness an improvement in demand from customers.
But despite the reduction in outlets, Wetherspoon said total sales are now about one third higher than in 2015 with sales per boozer ballooning by about 50 per cent since
‘In spite of a reduction in the overall number of pubs, sales have continued to increase – total sales are now about one third higher than in 2015.’
However, Wetherspoon stressed that it still believes it has the ‘potential’ to reach 1,000 sites across the UK.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘A lot of capacity has come out of the market and the hint that there might be potential of about 1,000 pubs compared to a current total of 814, could see the estate start to grow again.
‘That may see the return of dividends kicked further down the road.’
While boss Sir Tim previously told The Times: ‘We’ve sold a number of pubs over the years, especially where we’ve opened two pubs close to each other in small or medium-sized towns,’
‘We’ve also surrendered a number of leasehold pubs to the landlord, where leases have come to the end.
‘We have 814 pubs today and estimate there is potential for about 1,000.
‘Although there have been some disposals, sales are nearly a billion pounds higher than ten or 11 years ago.’
The news appears to be bucking the trend of pub closures, with shocking figures showing 29 boozers in Britain are closing every week.
According to the Campaign for Real Ale (CAMRA), countless pubs are closing every week because of sky-high energy costs and punters having less disposable cash, devastating local areas in the process.
In Dymchurch, Kent locals once faced the prospect of losing all three of their boozers and aren't optimistic by the future, while in Wales along the fabled Mumbles Mile which once boasted 24 different pubs now only has four.
The coastal town of Emsworth, Hampshire, which once boasted inns, taverns and beer houses - with 25 premises based in the town during its heyday in the 1870s. Today only seven public houses remain.
Likewise, in nearby Portsmouth - dubbed Britain's 'pub capital' with the most boozers per square mile of any city in the UK - has suffered a similar fate.
Recent figures show it has a total of 12 pubs per square mile – double the number of London, and more than Liverpool's 11 and Bristol, which has 10.
But in recent years, dozens of pubs have been closed - with fears raised last month over 33 public houses being as national pub operator Stonegate could fold as its parent company TDR Capital seeks to refinance £2.5bn of debt, reports Portsmouth's paper, The News.
And one of Britain's legendary pub crawls which once boasted 24 different watering holes has shrunk to just four.
The notorious Mumbles Mile in Swansea was a hit with visiting stag and hen parties and a rite of passage for students at the city's university.
But most of the pubs on the Mumbles Mile have now closed, victims of Covid, the economic crisis and competition from Swansea's other infamous drinking haunt Wind Street.
Sadly, grim national figures show that these two watering holes are far from isolated cases with a heartbreaking 772 pubs shutting either permanently or temporarily between January and June last year.
Long-term closes have almost doubled with 500 reported last year compared with 251 in 2021.
Pubs have been struggling nationally with rising costs for food and booze (file image)
Sir Tim Martin (pictured),, founder of Wetherspoon, today vowed to freeze the price of traditional breakfast for this year
In a statement, CAMRA National Chairman Nik Antona blamed a 'perfect storm' buffeting the UK pub industry.
He said: 'Simultaneous economic crises have meant that pubs, social clubs and taprooms are balancing on a crumbling cliff edge, with too many already lost to the abyss.
'CAMRA is always concerned when pubs could be lost to the communities they serve, be it through demolition or conversion to other usage, such as offices or housing.
'It is vital that these venues are marketed as going concerns and everything possible is done to secure their future as community pubs - including giving existing licensees first refusal of buying their pub.
'Pubs are struggling to survive against a perfect storm of issues, such as spiralling costs of goods and rising energy bills - meaning that our much-loved locals are at risk of disappearing forever unless meaningful support is given to both publicans and pubgoers.'
CAMRA are now urging the Government to use the upcoming budget to halt the closure of pubs.
Nik added: 'To put a stop to permanent closures of pubs CAMRA are urging the Government to announce a tax cut on pints in pubs by 20 percent at the upcoming Spring Budget, which would help them compete with the likes of supermarkets and the off-trade.
'This would significantly help UK's pubs to stay open and thrive as community spaces in the future.'