JD Wetherspoon sales jump despite continued pub sell-off

Sales at JD Wetherspoon jumped five per cent over the last quarter as the pub giant continued to sell more locations.

The pub giant has sold off seven of its pubs since the start of the year, despite opening only two new ones, it said in a trading update today.

It said it expected to open four or five more pubs in the rest of this financial year, followed by around ten next year.

In its full-year results in October, Wetherspoons revealed that the number of pubs had fallen from 879 in 2019 to just 800. This number has now dropped to 795.

In addition, the chain now has seven pubs operating under a franchise agreement, four of which opened during the last quarter, all operated by Haven Holiday Parks.

“The company has invested in new staff facilities in 520 pubs (49 in the current year), including staff rooms and changing rooms, with approximately 270 planned for the future,” said JD Wetherspoon chair Tim Martin, adding that each investment per pub comes to around £100,000.

Since the start of 2025, seven freehold reversions, where Wetherspoons was previously the tenant, have been acquired, costing the pub chain £17m.

When accounting for the sold-off pubs during the last three months, like-for-like sales increased by 5.6 per cent over the quarter.

Since the start of 2025, the pub’s total sales have increased 4.2 per cent, while like-for-like sales increased by 5.1 per cent.

JD Wetherspoon has also continued with its share buyback programme, buying back more than £41m of its own shares so far this year.

The firm currently expects its net debt to reach between £720m and £740m by the end of the year, with headroom under existing facilities of around £200m.

“As regards the menu, new initiatives include a gourmet burger offer, which has proved extremely popular in the pubs in which it has been trialled,” added Martin.

“Bearing in mind that recent trading has been helped by favourable weather, the company anticipates a reasonable outcome for the financial year, notwithstanding previously reported wage and tax increases of approximately £1.2m per week.”

Last month, Wetherspoons lost a bid to argue cider does not fall within the meaning of ‘alcoholic beverages’ in a VAT dispute with HMRC, failing to win back £4.9m in taxes.