JD Wetherspoon PLC (LSE:JDW) shares fell 3.7% after the pub company said it was more cautious about the future due to worries about the Budget later this month.
The FTSE 250-listed pub company reported that like-for-like sales were up 3.7% year-on-year for the 14 weeks to 2 November, comprising the first quarter of its financial year plus a further week.
This was an improvement from the 3.2% growth over the first nine weeks reported at its final results.
The company commented that it "is pleased with the continued sales momentum but is mindful of the Chancellor’s Budget statement later this month and, as a result, is slightly more cautious in its outlook for the remainder of the year".
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to raise income taxes in the budget to cover a large hole in public finances.
Analyst Douglas Jack at Peel Hunt said the LFL sales were in line with the long-term average since 2001, and overall, continued the outperformed the CGA RSM Hospitality Business Tracker for the past 37 months.
He said he would be maintaining forecasts that assume 4.5% LFL sales over the full year, though he noted this is 1% below the City consensus.