- The pub chain reported like-for-like sales have risen by 8.3% so far this year
- that trade was impacted by a Bank Holiday weekend happening a week later
JD Wetherspoon expects annual profits to come in towards the ‘top end’ of market forecasts amid rising demand for Guinness and vodka among younger customers.
The pub chain reported like-for-like sales have risen by 8.3 per cent so far this year and by 5.2 per cent in the 13 weeks to 28 April.
While the quarterly performance represented a slowdown in sales, the firm noted that trade was impacted by a Bank Holiday weekend happening a week later than last year.
Youth quake: Among younger drinkers, Sir Tim Martin said there was growing demand for the iconic stout ale Guinness, which Martin said was ‘previously consumed by blokes my age’
Wetherspoon’s chairman and founder, Sir Tim Martin, observed ‘increasing momentum’ for traditional ales, particularly Abbot Ale, Ruddles Bitter and Doom Bar.
Among younger drinkers, he said there was growing demand for the iconic stout ale Guinness, which Martin said was ‘previously consumed by blokes my age’.
They are also buying large amounts of Au Vodka, a Welsh gold-bottled brand backed by the DJ Charlie Sloth, and XIX Premium Vodka, founded by the YouTube group Sidemen.
Martin further said sales of Lavazza coffee are rising, helped by free refills that are ‘thought to be responsible for spontaneous exhibitions of breakdancing among retired customers’.
The outspoken boss, knighted in the most recent New Year’s Honours list, also noted that the Villa Maria Sauvignon Blanc wine from New Zealand was popular with ‘representatives of the chattering classes’.
‘Sales in the period continued the steady recovery from the pandemic,’ added Martin, a noted critic of the UK Government’s lockdown policies.
Founded in 1979, Wetherspoon is one of the UK’s largest pub operators, with 809 establishments across the British Isles.
It told investors that it recently opened two pubs and sold or surrendered to the landlord another 18 outlets.
Victoria Scholar, head of investment at Interactive Investor, said: ‘Wetherspoons has proven that customers still enjoy visiting its pubs and remain willing to spend despite cost-of-living pressures.
‘That’s thanks to its low prices and long opening hours, which separate its pub chains from the competition.
‘Price-sensitive customers may be curtailing their spending in more expensive restaurants and bars, but are trading down to cheaper boozers instead, which plays well into the hands of Wetherspoons.’
JD Wetherspoon shares were 2.9 per cent higher at 748.5p on Wednesday morning, making them one of the FTSE 250 Index’s top five risers, although they remain below pre-pandemic levels