Wetherspoons shares climb 17% as pubs chain cuts losses

Wetherspoons chairman Tim Martin warned that Covid lockdowns and restrictions are "perhaps the biggest threat to the hospitality industry".

The pub chain Wetherspoon has reiterated its desire to expand operations in Ireland.

Shares in Wetherspoons jumped 17% as the pubs chain surprised investors with lower-than-expected losses, despite the huge increase in costs amid the inflation crisis bearing down on hospitality businesses.

Wetherspoons has over 850 pubs, which are located mostly in Britain, but also has a handful of outlets in Ireland, including in Dublin, Belfast, and Cork, and has long stated its ambitions to open new Irish pubs.

The company again indicated that there was no lessening in its ambitions to expand across Ireland.

The pubs group posted a loss of £30.4m (€34.5m) for its financial year that runs to the end of July, down sharply from the loss in the previous year when trading was still badly affected by Covid restrictions in Britain.  

It said that in the first nine weeks of the new financial year, like-for-like sales increased by over 10% from a year earlier. 

The shares, which climbed almost 17% to value the group at £563.4m in the latest session, have nonetheless tumbled 47% from this time last year. 

However, as a result of the previously reported increases in labour and repair costs and the potentially adverse effects of rises in interest rates and energy costs on the economy, firm predictions are hard to make," chairman Tim Martin said in the earnings statement.  

Mr Martin, who has long campaigned against the Covid restrictions in Britain, said in the earnings statement that "perhaps the biggest threat to the hospitality industry is the possibility of further lockdowns and restrictions".