Wetherspoons has sold 26 pubs in the year to 7 July for £8.7m, despite like-for-like sales increasing by 7.7% in the same period.

Currently, the pub chain estimates that its net debt will stand at around £670m at the financial year end.

The group has also announced the signing of a new four-year banking agreement for £840m on “attractive terms”.

Chairman at Wetherspoons, Tim Martin, said: "The gradual recovery in sales and profits, following the pandemic, has continued in the current financial year.

"Total sales are, again, at record levels, with fewer pubs. Sales per pub are approximately 21% higher than pre-pandemic levels, which has helped to compensate for the very substantial increase in costs. Staff retention is at its highest ever level. [A total] 11,066 staff, an average of 14 per pub, have worked for the company for five years or more. Of those, 3,895 have worked for 10 years and 632 for 20 years."

Wetherspoons said that it currently boasts a total of 801 pubs, having opened two in the financial year, with 10 trading pubs currently on the market or under offer.

"We are also continuing to open new pubs, with openings in the next few months, for example, in Waterloo and Fulham Broadway stations in London, and in Marlow in Buckinghamshire," Martin added. "The average Wetherspoon pub has generated taxes of one sort or another of £7m in the last 10 years, as well as generating considerable employment and social benefits.

"The last Government failed to implement tax equality between pubs and supermarkets, leading to pub closures and underinvestment - Wetherspoons hopes that the current Chancellor, with a Bank of England pedigree, will understand how many beans make five, and rectify this inequality. The company continues to expect profits in the current financial year to be in line with market expectations."

Investment director at AJ Bell, Russ Mould, added: "Wetherspoons used to be all about volume of sales and not margins. That left the company exposed to increases in costs coming out of the pandemic.

"It is now delivering record sales from a streamlined trading estate and with debt under control the company expects to deliver results in line with forecasts.

"In a hospitality market which has seen a large number of venues disappear in recent years, Wetherspoons has an opportunity to further entrench its market position and it is investing in areas like beer gardens which could broaden the range of customers it might attract."

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