JD Wetherspoon PLC (LSE:JDW) is scheduled to publish its full-year results on Friday 7 October, having previously said it anticipates higher-than-expected losses of approximately £30mln and that no dividends will be paid until sales return to pre-pandemic levels.
Boss Tim Martin's usual diatribe may be even lengthier than usual given the economic events of recent weeks.
Boris Johnson was still in power when we last heard from the FTSE 250-listed pub owner and operator back in July, when like-for-like sales for the first 11 weeks of its final quarter were revealed to be down 0.4% on pre-pandemic levels, which it noted was an improvement compared to the previous quarter, when sales were down 4%.
Sales of traditional sales drivers such as draught ales were still 8.0% below 2019.
While many hospitality chains have bemoaned high energy costs, JDW fixed its energy prices at levels that pre-date the current spike in prices - though most of its customers won't have been so lucky.
Soaring food prices, unprecedented energy bills and higher mortgage payments have been putting strain on household budgets, while the pound nosediving in recent months has been piling on inflationary pressures, with UK consumer confidence sinking to a record low in September.
It's not yet clear whether the government's announcement to cap energy prices and cut taxes will put a spring in the general public's step.
Martin seemed to have one back in April when, in an investor Q&A, the said Spoons "anticipates investing £75mln per annum in opening new pubs and enlarging existing one in the next decade", though this was "on the basis that the economy returns to something like normal".
But with the economy not in any sort of 'normal' state and interest rates rising to loom larger over the company's net debt, which stood at £906mln in the third quarter, investors will have an eye on the balance sheet - which Martin clearly has too.
At the third quarter stage, the company said it had sold six pubs, surrendered five leases and closed a further three pubs so far in the year, giving rise to a cash inflow of £6.3mln, later revealing that around 10 pubs were also being marketed for sale.
Trade press has reported that a further 32 pubs (10 freehold and 22 leasehold) are now being marketed for sale (including in case you're interested, the Jolly Sailor in Bristol, Cliftonville Inn in Hove, Bank House in Cheltenham, Water House in Durham, both the Toll Gate and Alfred Herring in Tottenham, Angel in Islington, Penderels Oak in Holborn, Asparagus in Battersea and Wrong Un in Bexleyheath)..
These are predominantly located in town or city centres and are some of the largest pubs in their respective areas, noted analyst Anna Barnfather at Liberum.
"Completion of this latest disposal would take pub numbers back to pre-2012 levels and support our view that JD Wetherspoon’s needs to rapidly reposition its proposition and bolster its balance sheet," she said.
The analyst said this appears that recovery has lagged management’s own expectations this year and the previous confident about investing in the portfolio has "substantially changed in terms of expansion and disposals".