JD Wetherspoon Profits Drop 31.9% on Rising Costs

JD Wetherspoon, the British pub chain operating nearly 800 venues, reported a 31.9 percent decline in pre-tax profits to 22.4 million pounds for the 26 weeks ended January 25, 2026, attributing the drop to surging labor, tax and energy costs. The results, announced to shareholders on Friday, come amid broader economic pressures in the UK hospitality sector, with chairman Tim Martin warning that these increases will contribute to underlying inflation while the company commits to minimizing price hikes for customers.

The profit slump follows a 5.7 percent rise in revenues to 1.09 billion pounds over the period, driven by like-for-like sales growth of 4.8 percent compared to the previous year. Bar sales led the gains with a 7 percent increase, while food sales rose 1.3 percent. Hotel room sales dipped 0.6 percent after the chain removed several third-party booking agents that imposed high commissions. More recently, like-for-like sales advanced 2.6 percent in the seven weeks to March 15, outperforming the industry average of 0.2 percent for February according to the CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker. This marked the 42nd consecutive month of above-industry performance for...