Higher costs see Wetherspoon profits fall sharply – Daily Business

Pubs chain J D Wetherspoon saw profits plunge by more than a quarter as a result of higher costs, including £46m added to its wage bill.

Profit before tax and separately disclosed items for the year to 26 July, fell 28% to £58.6m from £81.4m in the previous 12 months.

Costs increased by 5.3% and also included £31m of additional expenditure on repairs and £9m of business rates.

Group revenue came in 5.2% higher at £2.24 billion, driven by a 4.2% rise in like-for-like sales. Operating profit fell 17.9% to £120.2m.

Despite these profit declines the board proposes a maintained full-year dividend of 12p. The company anticipates profit before tax and separately disclosed items to be in line with current market expectations for the next financial year.

Chairman Tim Martin, who has been a long-time critic of the tax disparity between pubs and supermarkets, said: “The hospitality industry, as many commentators and companies have noted, has borne the brunt of government-led tax and regulatory cost increases, especially in the last two budgets.

“This has resulted in pubs becoming even more expensive than supermarkets, leading to job losses, closures and high street dereliction.

“It is to be hoped that the powers-that-be will refrain from any further increases, since pubs and restaurants pay around 40% of their receipts as taxes of one sort or another – and provide immense financial support to the Treasury, as well as social support to the community.”

He said that in the last nine weeks, to 27 September 2026, like-for-like sales increased by 8.6%, “helped, no doubt, by exceptional weather”.

Commenting on the VatsTheProblem campaign calling for a cut in tax, he said: “As Jacques Borel, Tom Kerridge and multifarious individuals and organisations have noted, including, indeed, the Prime Minister and other party leaders, VAT is the main culprit in the disparity with supermarkets – and the hospitality industry will not be able to survive or thrive unless taxes and other costs are equalised.

“Wetherspoon has made a good start to the financial year, although it is at least partially due to weather, which will inevitably revert to the norm. At this early stage, we continue to anticipate profit before tax and separately disclosed items in line with current market expectations.”