JD Wetherspoon said profits were ahead of expectations after better-than-expected sales, but warned that “significant costs” would weigh on its performance over the remainder of the year. JD Wetherspoon said profits were ahead of expectations after better-than-expected sales, but warned that “significant costs” would weigh on its performance over the remainder of the year. The pub chain said like-for-like sales rose 6% in the 25 weeks to January 21, with total sales climbing by 4.3%. “As a result of better-than-expected sales, year-to-date underlying profit before tax is slightly ahead of our expectations,” the company said, but warned that growth was likely to slow. Chairman Tim Martin said: “We face significant costs in the second half in areas which include labour, business rates and the sugar tax.

Source: Irish Independent January 24, 2018 08:15 UTC