(Reuters) -British pub group J D Wetherspoon said on Friday sales in the first nine weeks of its financial year rose nearly 10% on strong demand for its lower-than-average priced drinks and food amid a cost-of-living crisis.
Resilient customer spending has helped the UK hospitality industry manage pressures from high costs as they continue to recover from the pandemic lows.
However, a cost-of-living crisis remains a threat as cash-strapped shoppers restrict discretionary spending.
J D Wetherspoon, which owns and operates pubs across UK and Ireland, said like-for-like sales increased by 9.9% first nine weeks of the current financial year to Oct 1.
The pub group said profit before tax for the year ended on July 30 was 42.6 million pounds ($51.85 million), from the 30.4 million pound loss it reported a year earlier.
($1 = 0.8216 pounds)
(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)