J.D. Wetherspoon PLC

Legal Proceedings Report • Feb 26, 2021

National Storage Mechanism | Additional information

RNS Number : 5738Q

Wetherspoon (JD) PLC

26 February 2021

26 February 2021

J D WETHERSPOON PLC

NEWS RELEASE - CORRECTION

An article in Businessweek (26 February), regarding Wetherspoon, contains a number of inaccuracies:

-the article says that Wetherspoon plays "host to drunken students". This is a serious allegation to make about a pub company. "Playing host" in this way would be unlawful, since pubs have a legal obligation, enforced by the licensing authorities, to prevent drunkenness. Pub liquor licences can be lost if legislation is not adhered to. Wetherspoon has never, in its history, lost a licence on these grounds.

-the article says Wetherspoon is "sacrificing worker pay for affordable prices". However, average Wetherspoon pay, excluding management grades, is 12% over the minimum wage. In addition, Wetherspoon paid bonuses and free shares (see table below) to employees equivalent to 55% of its profits after tax in the last 15 years. 15,032 employees own shares in the company. Since the share scheme was introduced, Wetherspoon has awarded 20.6 million free shares to employees, approximately 16% of the shares in issue today.

-the article says that Wetherspoon "took advantage of a beer supply surplus to secure cheap contracts". This is untrue. The company has never been made aware of a "beer surplus" and believes that "taking advantage" would be impossible, since beer is produced in short cycles, in line with current demand.

-the article says that Wetherspoon "unlike traditional pubs ... divides its pubs into gridlike seating plans.....reducing the frequency of chance interactions". This claim is completely untrue. There is no observable difference between Wetherspoon seating layouts and those of many competitors. The reference to reducing interactions is entirely fictional.

-the article says that Wetherspoon "leverag(ed) it's scale to beat out smaller competitors". This is misleading. There are far more competitors now in the hospitality industry than there were in the past- coffee shops, restaurants and cafes, which sell many of the same products as Wetherspoon, have grown exponentially. Many smaller pub competitors, trading in close proximity to Wetherspoon, like Loungers, Fuller's, Young's and St Austell have grown substantially.

-the article refers to Wetherspoon as the "Most-Hated" pub company. This is untrue. An independent market research survey (see link: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/5738Q_1-2021-2-26.pdf) by CGA BrandTrack of 5,000 consumers in 2018, for example, reported that Wetherspoon is "the preferred brand to eat out at".  A similar survey in 2019 (see link: http://www.rns-pdf.londonstockexchange.com/rns/5738Q_1-2021-2-26.pdf), also by CGA BrandTrack, found that Wetherspoon was the "standout choice for branded drinking occasions".

-the article says that Wetherspoon chairman Tim Martin is "a lifetime skeptic of the EU" and that "he began in the 1990s to push for Britain to prune its ties with Brussels". This is untrue. As Mr Martin has said, on a number of occasions, his first opposition to the EU was when it was proposed that the UK join the euro in around 2000, following the failure of the euro's predecessor, the exchange rate mechanism in the early 1990s.

Tim Martin said -

"There are a number of other errors in the Businessweek article, but these are the main ones. It is important for the corrections to be in the public domain".

Wetherspoon: bonuses and free shares vs profits, 2006 - 2020

	Bonus and free shares	Profit after tax	Bonus etc as % of profits
Financial Year	£m	£m
2020	33	-30	-
2019	46	80	58%
2018	43	84	51%
2017	44	77	57%
2016	33	57	58%
2015	31	57	53%
2014	29	59	50%
2013	29	65	44%
2012	24	57	42%
2011	23	52	43%
2010	23	51	44%
2009	21	45	45%
2008	16	36	45%
2007	19	47	41%
2006	17	40	41%
Total	428	777	55%

*Source: J D Wetherspoon plc Annual Reports and Accounts 2006 - 2020

Ends.

Enquiries:

John Hutson                          Chief Executive Officer                       01923 477777

Ben Whitley                          Finance Director                                  01923 477777

Eddie Gershon                      Company spokesman                         07956 392234

Please email any questions to investorqueries@jdwetherspoon.co.uk 

Notes to editors

1. J D Wetherspoon owns and operates pubs throughout the UK and Ireland. The Company aims to provide customers with good-quality food and drink, served by well-trained and friendly staff, at reasonable prices. The pubs are individually designed, and the Company aims to maintain them in excellent condition.

2. Visit our website: www.jdwetherspoon.com

3. This announcement has been prepared solely to provide additional information to the shareholders of J D Wetherspoon, to meet the requirements of the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules. It should not be relied on by any other party, for any other purposes. Forward-looking statements have been made by the directors in good faith, using information available up until the date on which they approved this statement. Forward-looking statements should be regarded with caution, because of the inherent uncertainties in economic trends and business risks.

4. This announcement contains inside information on J D Wetherspoon plc.

5. The current financial year comprises 52 trading weeks to 25 July 2021.

6. The next trading update is expected to be the Company's interim results statement on 19 March 2021.

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