Wetherspoon Boss Pledges Minimal Price Hikes Despite Rising Costs, £2.13bn Sales

JD Wetherspoon, which operates nearly 800 pubs in the UK, reported strong financial results for the year ending July 27, with revenues rising 4.5% to £2.13 billion and like-for-like sales up 5.1%, alongside a 10.1% increase in pre-tax profits to £81.4 million. Despite this growth, the company faces significant cost pressures from rising labor expenses, including increased national insurance contributions and wages, which add approximately £60 million annually to costs. Additionally, new government levies such as the extended producer responsibility tax on packaging, which has tripled Wetherspoon's packaging costs to £2.4 million per year, and non-commodity energy costs—including levies to support nuclear power construction—are expected to further increase expenses and contribute to inflation. Chairman Sir Tim Martin emphasized Wetherspoon's commitment to keeping price increases to a minimum, acknowledging that some price rises are inevitable due to these government-imposed costs. The company also highlighted that these cost pressures could impact its financial performance going forward, although it anticipates a reasonable outcome for the current year. Wetherspoon continues to expand, planning to open 30 new pubs in the upcoming year, and noted that its total tax contributions to the UK government reached £838 million in the last year.