JD Wetherspoon PLC (LON:JDW) has reported higher like-for-like (LFL) sales in the six weeks to 8 March and sought to allay investor concerns around any impact from the coronavirus.
The brief update, which the FTSE 250 publican said had been issued in response to “an unusually high number of media and shareholder enquiries”, said that LFL sales in the period were up 3.2% while total sales were up 2.9%, adding that sales in the period were “more adversely affected by poor weather than by the health scare”.
READ: Wetherspoons sales rise over festive period but debt forecasts creep upwards
The company added that, as of today, it was “not aware that any of [its] 43,000 staff has tested positive for [coronavirus]” and that their outlook for the current financial year was currently unchanged.
However, the shares still slumped 11.3% to 1,048.8p in mid-afternoon trading on Thursday.