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Wetherspoon prunes its estate
Pub operator JD Wetherspoon has announced plans to dispose of 10 properties – only its third major disposal since it was founded – for a loss against book value of £3.5m.
The announcement was made in a first quarter trading update from Wetherspoon, which also said the company has now exchanged contracts regarding the Dublin site which it no longer intends to develop, encountering a book loss of £600,000 – £100,000 more than predicted.
A spokesperson for Wetherspoon said the disposals were a "pruning operation" and that while no more sales were planned, there may be future disposals in the name of "commercial realignment".
All 10 of the properties on the market are in areas in which Wetherspoon will still have a presence after the sale.
Sales for the 13 weeks to 26 October were £193.9m, an increase of 12 per cent and like for like sales increased 4.2 per cent. Three pubs opened in the quarter for a total of 638 sites.
Wetherspoon chair and founder, Tim Martin, is currently on a six-month unpaid sabbatical.