In This Article:
By Noor Zainab Hussain and Paul Sandle
LONDON (Reuters) - J D Wetherspoon's eurosceptic boss said customers were unfazed by political wrangling over Brexit after the pub group reported a rise in full-year sales and profit thanks to demand for products from pink gin and coffee to breakfast and beer.
Britain's Wetherspoon, like most pub and restaurant chains, has been battling increased costs due to a minimum wage hike, higher property prices and power bills. It has also been investing in its more labour-intensive food and coffee business.
It has, however, managed to attract patrons to its nearly 900 pubs in Britain and Ireland as it keeps drinks prices low, such as its latest move to sell a pint of Ruddles bitter for as little as 1.39 pounds ($1.73) in some locations.
Pretax profit after exceptional items rose to 95.4 million pounds ($118.5 million) for the year ended July 28 from 89 million pounds a year earlier, although before exceptional items, it fell 4.5% to 102.5 million pounds.
"Costs were quite high as we invest in the business and gardens and kitchens and people," Chairman Tim Martin, a vocal Brexiteer, told Reuters.
Total sales rose 7.4% to 1.82 billion pounds, while like-for-like sales rose by 6.8%, with a jump in bar and food sales.
Martin, one of the most prominent Brexit backers in British business, said he currently anticipated a "reasonable outcome" for the current year.
The British government outlined its worst-case scenario if the country leaves the European Union at the end of October without a deal, including snarl-ups at the ports and a shortage of some fresh foods in a document released on Wednesday.
Supermarket bosses have voiced similar concerns about the impact on supply chains and costs.
Martin, who said leaving without a deal would enable Britain to eliminate tariffs on more than 12,000 non-EU products, said such claims were politically motivated.
"I think they are just remainers, I think that's what it is," he said. "You've had a whole year of different people saying food prices are going to rise if we leave the EU, it's counter-intuitive to put it mildly.
"If you eliminate tariffs on food, prices can't go up."
Similar gloomy predictions had been made when Britain did not join the euro, he said, "but the public didn't fall for it".
"I don't think any more people really do believe there's going to be massive delays at ports," he said.
Wetherspoon has replaced some products in its pubs that traditionally come from EU countries with domestic equivalents or from other countries, such stocking English sparkling wine.