Investors had high hopes for the J D Wetherspoon (LSE: JDW) share price ahead of today’s (22 March) 2024 interim report. But with the stock crashing almost 10% in early trading, they’ve clearly been dashed.
I’d been wondering whether to add the FTSE 250 pub chain to my self-invested personal pension (SIPP) plan, and I’m curious to know whether this is a warning shot or a buying opportunity.
Company results are funny things. Everything comes with a positive spin. Wetherspoons kicked off by stating that the “recovery from the effects of the pandemic continued”, with 2023 like-for-like sales up 15.3% compared to FY19, which it uses as a pre-pandemic benchmark. That compares to a drop of 17.4% in 2022.
The stock has gone flat
Today’s results cover the first half of FY24, and show total sales up 8.2% to £991m, compared to the same period in 2023. It states that since December 2015 it has slashed the…
