J D Wetherspoon plc reported sales results for the 12 weeks of second quarter and year to date ended January 19, 2014. For the period, the company reported like-for-like sales increased by 6.7% and total sales by 10.6%.

In the year to date, like-for-like sales increased by 5.2% and total sales increased by 9.0%.

For the half year ending January 26, 2014, the company expects the operating margin, to be around 8.1%, 0.2% lower than the same period last year, due primarily to increased investment in a number of areas,

For the half year ending January 26, 2014, the company estimates an operating margin in the region of 8.1% to 8.3% for this financial year, assuming that the company achieve reasonable sales growth. The company anticipates a slightly higher corporation tax rate for this financial year, at around 27%, due to higher-than-expected non-qualifying capital expenditure.