Wetherspoons expected to announce annual loss

Some 88% of female entrepreneurs on the Going for Growth programme pivoted their businesses during Covid a survey of participants has found.

Pub giant Wetherspoons is expected to tumble to an annual loss after sales were hammered by the mass closure of sites in the face of the coronavirus lockdown.

The pub group will announce its annual results for the year to July on Friday, but investors will be particularly keen for an update on recent trading.

Wetherspoons told investors in August that it had seen a steady progression in trading since first reopening sites in the UK and Ireland.

But hospitality firms in the UK have since been hit by a 10pm curfew, restrictions on service, local lockdowns and a broad downturn in sentiment.

In recent days, reports have surfaced that pubs in large areas of the north of England could be forced to close from Monday.

Last month, Wetherspoons chairman Tim Martin told investors that its sales for Saturday, September 12 were 22.5% below the equivalent Saturday last year.

It highlighted a potential regression after the company had reported like-for-like sales decline of 16.9% for the 44 days to August 16, when it had benefited from the UK's Eat Out to Help Out programme and warmer weather.

"Its pubs were forced to shut for three months and the company spent £15 million on hygiene and social distancing measures when they reopened," said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"Recouping those costs and the loss of business won't be easy, given the slow economic recovery and the earlier closing times the chain has now to adhere to."

Wetherspoons has also seen its travel sites particularly impacted by the pandemic, announcing last month that up to 450 jobs will be cut across its airport pubs.

- PA