JD Wetherspoon PLC on Friday said it expects a ‘reasonable outcome’ for its financial year despite its interim profit halving, but reported a surge in sales.

Shares in JD Wetherspoon were down 5.6% at 752.13 pence each in London on Friday morning.

The Watford, Hertfordshire-based pub chain said in the six months to January 28, pretax profit fell by more than half to £26.1 million from £57.0 million. This was amid property losses of £15.1 million, compared to £11.2 million the previous year.

In addition, Wetherspoon’s operating costs grew 5.1% to £923.3 million in the first half of its financial year, from £878.5 million a year prior.

However, revenue rose 8.2% to £991.0 million from £916.0 million the year before.

Wetherspoon declared no interim dividend, unchanged from a year ago.

Looking ahead, the pub-owner said its sales have continued to improve, and noted that in the seven weeks to March 17, its like-for-like sales have increased by 5.8%.

Chair Tim Martin said: ‘The company currently anticipates a reasonable outcome for the financial year, subject to our future sales performance.’

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