SUMMER weather and the heavy discounting of beer by supermarkets have raised fears that JD Wetherspoon will emerge with a further downbeat trading statement when it reports full-year results on Friday.

The FTSE 250 high street pub operator has already given warning on profits twice this year, most recently last month. It blamed increased competition and the effects of the Euro 2004 football championships, when only 150 of its 640 pubs screened matches.

But investors are braced for further disappointment after one of the wettest Augusts on record.

Last week Citigroup suggested that consensus pre-tax profit forecasts for Wetherspoon are too high, given the much tougher trading conditions the group has experienced this summer compared with last. Ivor Jones, the US stockbroker’s leisure analyst, said: “Beware of current trading”.

In a circular he said: “Hot summer weather in 2003 enticed drinkers to beer gardens, and we anticipate that current comparative figures will be tough for JD Wetherspoon.”

Unsettled by the uncertainty over the strength of summer trading, Citigroup has reduced its 2004 pre-tax profit forecast to £54.6 million, with that for the current financial year falling to £55.4 million, against a consensus £56.2 million.

In meetings with City analysts last week, Avebury Taverns, the UK’s fourth largest tenanted pub operator, said beer volumes had fallen 5 per cent to 6 per cent in July and August. Shares in JD Wetherspoon have fallen 16 per cent since the start of July to close last week at 240p, an 11-month low.

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