JD Wetherspoon chief exec share sale nets £90,000

JD Wetherspoon's chief executive John Hutson pocketed has pocketed more than £90,000 from the sale of shares in the pub chain operator.

He offloaded 20,000 for 454p a time on the same day the firm said it should see a "reasonable" outcome to the current financial year despite higher costs and the tough times its customers are experiencing. The sales leaves him with 34,801 shares.

Shares in the company have eased since Hutson sold 90,000 shares at 466.7p a time in January. JD Wetherspoon "continues to be faced with rising costs for a wide range of goods and services, combined with a reduction in disposable income for many of its customers," it said today.

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Sales "continue to be resilient and the performance of our recently opened pubs remains encouraging."

In the 13 weeks to 24 April, like-for-like sales increased by 2.4% from the same period the previous year, while total sales, including new pubs, were up by 7.4%. In the 39 weeks to 24 April, like-for-like sales increased by 2.4% and overall company sales increased by 7.6%.

Wetherspoons has opened 29 pubs and closed two so far this financial year. It intends to have opened 50 by the year end.

Hutson has worked with JD Wetherspoon since 1991. He replaced Tim Martin, the company's founder, as chairman in 2004.

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