British pubs operator JD Wetherspoon reported a 24 per cent boost in profit today for a year in which it experimented with restricting smoking ahead of a national ban.
Wetherspoon alarmed investors last year by banning smoking in some of its pubs, but tight cost control and a broader range of drinks at its city centre pubs more than offset the negative impact from its non-smoking pubs.
Profit before tax was €86.5 million in the year to July 30th.
"We converted 17 pubs in England and Wales to non-smoking in the first half of the period under review, and their sales declined by 6.5 per cent on a like-for-like basis in the second half of the year," said the group.
But the pubs that were converted to non-smoking earlier fared better.
"Overall, we believe that sales started to improve in those pubs after the initial 12 months, but remain below the levels of two years ago," it said.
In Wetherspoon's 39 pubs in Scotland, like-for-like sales fell 0.3 per cent in May, June and July, following a Scottish smoking ban on March 26th. But pub operating profits fell by 11 per cent.