Wetherspoons founder silenced as sales lose fizz

THE vocal chairman of Wetherspoons was unusually quiet yesterday, as the pub group revealed sales which fell flat with investors.

Rather than packing his company’s trading update with criticism of Remainer MPs and comments conveying his frustration with EU trade policies, Tim Martin, who founded Wetherspoons after buying his first pub in 1979, simply said he expected trading to be in line with previous expectations.

But this wasn’t enough for shareholders, who have become accustomed to stellar sales growth.

Shares fell 4.4pc, or 59p, to 1286p as Wetherspoons revealed like-forlike sales climbed 7.6pc in the 13 weeks to April 28, the third quarter of its financial year.

This was down from 9.6pc in the six weeks to March 10, and analysts at Peel Hunt and Liberum think it will have to push up prices to maintain profitability.

Wetherspoons, which has made a point under Martin’s leadership of promoting British beer and wine, has opened three new pubs since the start of its financial year last July but closed seven.

As Martin toured his pubs in Edinburgh yesterday, it confirmed plans to open two more before the end of July. It has also spent £70.9m buying pub property in which it was previously a tenant.

Lingering worries about a USChina trade deal kept a lid on the

FTSE 100, which was up 0.2pc, or 10.53 points, at 7271.

Keystone Law, one of the UK’s few stock market- listed legal firms, boasted soaring results.

Revenue at the firm, which allows its lawyers to work remotely and has worked on cases such as Noel Edmonds’ dispute with Lloyds Bank, shot up by 35.1pc to £42.7m. Profit before tax climbed 56.8pc to £5.1m, and it added 50 more fee-earners to its books, and now has 277. Shares, however, dipped 2.2pc, or 11p, to 496p.

Russ Mould, at AJ Bell, said: ‘Keystone’s shares are still trading at pretty much their all-time high after a terrific run.’

He said that although the dividend is growing, the yield – or how much dividend an investor gets compared with the share price – is relatively low at 2pc. But given its prospects, it may still appeal to growth-seeking investors.

Sales at the UK’s fifth-largest car retailer, Vertu Motors, were driving ahead even though profit slipped by £5.1m to £25.3m.

Analysts at Liberum said the performance was ‘resilient’ in a difficult year. Revenue jumped by 6.7pc to £3bn, and Vertu said it was drawing to the end of a threeyear improvement plan which has seen it spend more than £85m.

It now has 123 outlets in the UK, including three Mercedes-Benz and five Land Rover dealerships but chairman Peter Jones announced that he would be stepping down soon. Shares climbed 8.3pc, or 2.9p, to 37.9p.

Online Blockchain, the internet investment company, edged up as it announced it had started testing a new website which allows users to obtain digital currencies like bitcoin without paying. Shares climbed 10pc, or 2p, to 22p.

When it changed its name to include the word ‘ blockchain’ at the end of 2017, its shares rocketed as much as 394pc. Investors were excited at the prospect of a company focused on new blockchain technology, which underpins digital currencies and has been heralded as a safer, more efficient way to do business online.

But for Argo Blockchain, another company which has tried to elbow in on the hype, enthusiasm appears to be waning. The digital currency firm has been affected by bitcoin’s sliding value and, even though it expects to break even in the second half of this year, the market seemed dubious. Shares slid by 7.7pc, or 0.25p, to 3.5p.