- Margins improving but still way below pre-pandemic levels
- Shares trade at 40 times forecast earnings
Things are looking brighter for J D Wetherspoon (JDW). Like-for-like sales for the six months to 29 January were up 13 per cent on the prior year and were 5 per cent higher than pre-pandemic levels. Over the past seven weeks, like-for-like sales were up 15 per cent on last year, although the pub chain is still battling with what chairman Tim Martin described as “ferocious” inflationary pressures.