J D Wetherspoon plc has published a trading update for the 15 weeks to 8 November 2020, comprising Q1 and a further fortnight, and reveals it lost around £14m in a month of closure.
For the 15 weeks to 8 November 2020, the group saw like-for-like sales decreasing by 27.6%.
Sales in October were significantly lower than the previous months, following the imposition of a number of new restrictions, including changes in the tier categories, a 10pm curfew, a requirement to order all food and drink ‘at the table’, and the mandatory use of face masks when moving around inside pubs.
As of today, 756 pubs in England, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are closed. These pubs will remain closed until the company receives guidance from the UK and Irish governments to the effect that pubs are permitted to reopen.
There are currently 64 trading pubs in Scotland and 51 in Wales. The Scottish pubs, in particular, are subject to an extremely onerous tier system which, as has been widely reported, is having a serious effect on trade.
Wetherspoons undertook a share placing in April 2020 that raised £137.7m, and £48.3m was raised through a CLBILS loan in August 2020. It had £234m of liquidity on 25 October 2020. Liquidity is significantly higher, and current liabilities are lower, than before the March lockdown.
Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin said, “For any pub or restaurant company trading in different parts of the UK, and for customers generally, the constantly changing national and local regulations, combined with geographical areas moving from one tier to another in the different jurisdictions, are baffling and confusing.
'The entire regulatory situation is a complete muddle. However, the initial regulations, following reopening, introduced on 4 July, were carefully thought through, followed thorough consultation, and were based on solid scientific foundations of social distancing and hygiene. The benefits of the regulatory hyperactivity since then, including the imposition of a curfew, are questionable.
“A particular anxiety in the hospitality industry relates to the future timescale for the ending of “temporary” regulations. Veterans of the industry will recall that the afternoon closing of pubs between about 3pm and 6pm was imposed in the First World War, to encourage munitions workers to return to their factories - but the requirement for afternoon closing was only abolished in 1986.”