World Cup woe hits Wetherspoon

PUB chain Wetherspoon has paid the penalty for its 'no TV' policy during the World Cup. Boss Tim Martin said sales had slumped as customers went elsewhere to watch the soccer action. Wetherspoon pubs were reported to have been empty on match days, while other pubs had record takings.

The British Beer & Pub Association said that about 27m customers had drunk an extra 44m pints of beer during the World Cup, giving the industry - apart from Wetherspoon - a £165m boost. But Martin said it could have been worse for Wetherspoon. 'Trading over the World Cup was down,' he admitted, 'but not nearly as much as during the last World Cup, in France. The time difference with the Far East was better for us.'

Nigel Popham, analyst at stockbroker Teather & Greenwood, said: 'The World Cup has been much better for the pubs sector than predicted, and Wetherspoon suffered as a result. People spent their money in the pubs that showed the football.'

Greg Feehely, analyst for stockbroker Old Mutual Securities, agreed: 'The pubs were packed to the rafters - Wetherspoon will have suffered. I'm sure Martin was hoping England would get knocked out as soon as possible. But Wetherspoon stuck to their guns.'

Analysts are also concerned that the 577-strong Wetherspoon chain has scaled back its ambitious expansion from 100 new pubs a year to 80. Feehely said: 'It is a significant difference. One hundred units a year was an incredibly demanding target, and Wetherspoon is obviously finding it difficult to maintain growth.' But Martin said: 'It doesn't make a blind bit of difference whether we grow at 70 or 100 pubs a year. We're going to have 1,500 pubs in ten years, and only a wally or an analyst would do the same number every year.'

However, a rival pub group said: 'They're pulling out of site negotiations all over the place.'

Martin is engaged in a feud with leading figures in the industry over plans to transfer licensing power from magistrates to local authorities - a plan he vehemently opposes. He has described Hugh Osmond and Giles Thorley of pubs operator Punch, John Sands of Pubmaster and Ted Tuppen of Enterprise Inns as lazy, arrogant, stupid and lightweight for their various views on the issue.

Sands urged Martin not to resort to 'playground squabbles'.