JD Wetherspoon weathers the storm
For less alluring high street destinations the winter snow was a problem - folk stayed away. For JD Wetherspoon it appears to have been a boon: once inside the cheap and cheerful pubs, drinkers saw little reason to leave.
In the three months to mid January, sales were up 8.1% - a strong performance for an industry battered by cheap supermarket booze and tax increases.
City analysts had expected that Spoons would see sales fall in line with other retailers. "This appears to have been disproved," stockbrokers Seymour Pierce conceded in a note today.
The shares jumped more than 6% as the City adjusted its views towards a company that is widely regarded as very well run.
They added 28.3p to 470p.
Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin says his business plan is to keep things simple.
"We realise that pubs are not brands. They depend on the quality of the ale, the atmosphere and the staff. It is unflamboyant," he said.
Martin recently wrote to his hero Warren Buffett offering the billionaire investor a job in one of his pubs should he decide to quit running Berkshire Hathaway.
Buffett has not yet replied. "I am extremely disappointed," says Martin. "That he has just bought the biggest railroad in America is no excuse."
Martin was scathing of government plans to introduce a minimum price for alcohol.
"It is micro management worthy of Gordon Brown. What they should do is to reduce VAT for pubs and restaurants in order to create jobs. They don't understand money very well," sighed Martin.
