Pub group JD Wetherspoon has recorded a £34 million pre-tax loss for the year to July 26, versus a profit of £102 million a year earlier, and said that its like-for-like sales in the first 11 weeks of the new financial year were down 15%, compared to a 30% fall for its fiscal 2020.
The £34 million pre-tax loss is Wetherspoon's first annual loss since 1984.
"The current environment of lockdowns, curfews and constantly changing regulations and announcements threatens not only pub companies, but the entire economy," Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin said.
Job Losses
Shares in Wetherspoon were down 9.4% to 870 pence at 0800 GMT on Friday October 16 after the pub group said in a statement that it will make a further 108 job cuts. In August, it said that it would cut up to 130 jobs at its head office, and last month it added that 400 to 450 airport employees could lose their jobs as the group deals with depressed demand.
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