The UK’s biggest pub group JD Wetherspoon (JDW) is due to release its full year results to 31 July on 6 October and, given strong trading in the first 10 weeks of the final quarter, they are likely to at least meet expectations.

That looks like a bare minimum given positive investor sentiment with the shares racking up gains of more than 70% over the last year as the pandemic becomes a distant memory and consumers flock back to pubs.

In July, the company said it expected to meet profit expectations after seeing accelerating like-for-like sales growth of 11% in the first 10 weeks of its final quarter.

Chair Tim Martin said he anticipated a similar outcome in the first half of the 2024 financial year to the second half of 2023. Investors will be looking to see if that positive outlook is maintained.

One fly in the ointment is the lousy summer weather with a particularly wet August. Numis analysts note the CGA tracker for the pubs segment dropped from 7% in July to 4.9% in August.

Numis therefore anticipates current trading to be no better than their 7.2% annual growth assumption for the year. ‘Absent a strong pick up in market conditions in September, an increase to guidance appears unlikely,’ says the broker.

UK UPDATES OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS

FULL-YEAR RESULTS

6 October: JD Wetherspoon

9 October: SCS Group, YouGov

12 October: Dechra Pharmaceuticals

HALF-YEAR RESULTS

11 October:
Sanderson Design

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

11 October: Marston’s

12 October: Hays, EasyJet

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