Pub chain Wetherspoon reports record loss

JD Wetherspoon has reported a record annual loss after Covid lockdowns saw its pubs shut for 19 weeks.

It posted a £154.7m loss as sales fell sharply in the year to 25 July, after a £34.1m loss a year earlier.

Wetherspoon's chairman Tim Martin criticised the "use of lockdowns and draconian restrictions".

The company also suggested that there were signs of recovery since rules designed to limit the transmission of coronavirus eased.

The pub chain said that like-for-like sales, which strip out the effect of new pub openings, were just 8.7% lower in the last nine weeks than in the same period before the pandemic.

Sales at its airport sites though, have struggled, it said.

Overall, revenues generated through pints, meals and soft drinks fell by 38.8% from a year earlier to £772.6m.

But in an update to investors, Mr Martin said that he felt hopeful for the future.

"Pubs have been at the forefront of business closures during the pandemic, at great cost to the industry - but at even greater cost to the Treasury.

"In spite of these obstacles, Wetherspoon is cautiously optimistic about the outcome for the financial year, on the basis that there is no further resort to lockdowns".