J D Wetherspoon Posts Rise In H1 Pretax Profit

JD Wetherspoon PLC JDWPY reported a rise in its pretax profit for the 26 weeks ended January 25, 2015. Wetherspoon posted a pretax profit of 37.5 million pounds ($56 million) for the half year, versus a year-ago profit of GBP36 million. Excluding exceptional items, the company's pretax profit declined to GBP37.5 million, versus GBP37.8 million. Profit surged to 27.82 million pounds for the same period, versus 26.04 million pounds. EPS rose to 22.6 pence from 20.7 pence, while EPS, before exceptional items, gained to 22.6 pence from 22.1 pence. Revenue surged 9% to GBP744.4 million from GBP683.2 million, while like-for-like sales rose 4.5%. The company maintained its interim dividend of 4.0 pence per share. Tim Martin, Chairman of J D Wetherspoon plc, said, "The first half of the financial year resulted in a reasonable sales performance and free cash flow, although our profit was under pressure from areas which included increased competition from supermarkets and increased pay and bonuses for pub staff." JD Wetherspoon shares fell 3.45% to close at $60.72 yesterday.