J D Wetherspoon (JDW) H2 2025 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Revenue increased 4.5% year-over-year to £2,127.5m, with like-for-like sales up 5.1%.

• Profit before tax rose 10.1% to £81.4m before separately disclosed items; after such items, profit before tax was £89.3m, up 33.1%.

• Underlying earnings per share grew 5.3% to 48.9p; free cash flow per share surged 44.3% to 47.4p.

• Average weekly sales per pub reached £61,900, a record high.

• The estate comprised 794 pubs and 56 hotels at year-end.

Financial highlights

• Operating profit increased to £146.4m, with an operating margin of 6.9%.

• EBITDA (cash return) was £258.8m, and EBIT was £145.5m before separately disclosed items.

• Net debt rose to £724.3m, with available facilities of £948m and unutilised facility of £223.7m.

• Net debt/EBITDA improved to 2.78x from 2.56x last year.

• Total tax contributions over the last decade reached £6.4bn; tax as a percentage of net sales was 39.4%.

Outlook and guidance

• Like-for-like sales in the first nine weeks of FY26 were up 3.2% year-over-year.

• Cost pressures expected from £60m in labour and national insurance increases and £7m in additional electricity costs.

• Positive momentum in sales and profit growth anticipated, with further estate expansion planned.

• Reasonable outcome for the year expected, subject to sales and government-led cost increases.