Wetherspoon scraps dividend as footfall plummets

JD Wetherspoon (JDW) will not pay a half-year dividend and has delayed most of its capital projects in a bid to conserve liquidity, after prime minister Boris Johnson’s caution over pub attendance accelerated a decline in sales. In the six weeks to 8 March, Wetherspoon's sales rose 2.9 per cent before dropping 4.5 per cent in the subsequent week, and continuing to drop since.