No Brexit blues for JD Wetherspoon as it toasts sales rise

Two of Britain’s biggest pub companies came out with sharply contrasting views of the effects of the EU referendum on their businesses earlier.

Greene King, which has over 3,000 pubs, whose chief executive Rooney Anand backed the Remain campaign, said it was “alert to a potentially tougher trading environment ahead.”

Tim Martin, chairman of JD Wetherspoon who campaigned hard for Brexit, said: “We are doing well and have seen sales pick up slightly in the last three or four months.”

Sales in Greene King’s main estate by pubs open at least a year were up 1.7%, while Wetherspoon has seen a like-for-like rise of 4% since the end of July.

Martin said: “The forecasters of gloom have been proven wrong and people are still going out for a drink.”

Wetherspoon’s full year profits came in at the top end of City forecasts with a 3.6% rise to £80.6 million on sales up 5.4% to £1.6 billion.

The dividend is held at 12p a share as Martin said he wanted to keep cash for “opportunistic investments” like buying up pubs.