Wetherspoon boss Tim Martin has said changes to national insurance contributions and minimum wage will cost each of his pubs £1,500 per week.
The outspoken owner of the popular pub chain made the comments as the company released its interim results for the 26 weeks to January 26, revealing an 8.6% drop in pre-tax profits - £32.9million down from £36million the previous year.
Commenting on the results, Martin took aim at the government's planned hikes in national insurance contributions and minimum wage.
He said: "In the last seven weeks, to 16 March 2025, like-for-like sales increased by 5.0%.
"Increases in national insurance and labour rates will result in company cost increases of approximately £60million per annum, which amount to approximately £1,500 per pub, per week.
"Since labour costs are around 35% of the pub industry's sales, compared to around 11% for supermarkets, increases of this nature inevitably have a disproportionate impact on pubs, exacerbating the already-wide price differential for customers between the on and off-trade.
"The combination of much higher VAT rates for pubs than supermarkets, combined with increased labour costs will weigh heavily on the pub industry.
"The company currently anticipates a reasonable outcome for the financial year, subject to our future sales performance."
Wetherspoon opened two pubs in the period and sold six, leaving the chain with 796 bars open.
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Companies reporting today
J D Wetherspoon* - Half Year Results
Carnival* - Q1 Results
Temple Bar Investment Trust - Full Year Results