J D Wetherspoon (JDW) H1 2026 earnings summary

Executive summary

• H1 revenue rose 5.7% year-over-year to £1,087.8m, with like-for-like sales up 4.8%.

• Before separately disclosed items, operating profit fell 18.4% to £52.9m and profit before tax fell 31.9% to £22.4m.

• Operating margin before separately disclosed items fell to 4.86% from 6.30%, amid higher labour, repair and business-rate costs.

• Average weekly sales per pub reached a record £64,000.

• Interim dividend held at 4.0p per share.

Financial highlights

• Before separately disclosed items, profit after tax was £16.1m versus £24.9m; basic EPS was 15.5p versus 21.5p.

• After separately disclosed items, operating profit was £53.0m versus £63.0m, PBT £26.0m versus £41.3m, and basic EPS 18.7p versus 27.8p.

• Free cash outflow was £0.2m versus £0.5m; free cash outflow per share improved to 0.1p from 0.4p.

• Net debt excluding IFRS 16 lease debt was £772.9m versus £724.3m at FY25 year-end; including leases, it was £1.15bn.

• Capital investment totalled £45.3m, including £12.3m for new pubs and extensions, £18.3m for existing pubs, £2.7m for business and IT, and £12.0m for freehold reversions.

Outlook and guidance

• Like-for-like sales rose 2.6% in the seven weeks to 15 March 2026; the year-end net debt forecast was unchanged.

• Cost pressures include £60m in annual national insurance and labour costs, £7m for non-commodity energy, and £2.4m in FY26 EPR packaging tax.

• FY profit may be slightly below current market expectations amid cost inflation and consumer pressures.

• Current-year plans include ~15 managed pub openings and ~15–20 franchised pub openings.