Wetherspoon weathers the poor climate

Pub chain JD Wetherspoon said sales growth accelerated in its second quarter as cheap beer and breakfasts lured in more cash-strapped customers.

The company yesterday said sales at pubs open more than a year rose by 3 per cent in the 12 weeks to 16 January, compared with a 1.6 per cent increase in the quarter to 24 October.

Wetherspoon, which opened its first pub in Scotland in 1996 and is due to open its 50th north of the Border in March, said it was confident of a "reasonable performance" in 2011.

Chairman Tim Martin, who founded the business with the opening of a single London pub in 1979, said there was no sign yet of any impact on trade from January's hike in VAT, but he suggested there may be an effect as the full implications of the rise hit consumers.

"Sales, profit and cashflow continue to be resilient and the performance of our recently opened pubs remains encouraging," he said.

Martin said this winter's heavy snow had impacted sales but the effect on the firm's comparative performance had been minimal because it was offset by similarly bad weather in January last year.

Wetherspoon, the first of Britain's major pubcos to report on festive trading, has bucked a declining market over the past three years, and is pressing ahead with plans to open 50 pubs a year for the next five years.