Pubs group JD Wetherspoon reports 28 pct jump in profit

Sept 15 (Reuters) - JD Wetherspoon, owner and operator of more than 900 pubs in Britain and Ireland (Other OTC: IRLD - news) , on Friday reported an almost 28 percent jump in profit before tax and exceptional items to 102.8 million pounds ($138 million).

Like-for-like sales grew 4 percent while total sales grew 4.1 percent to 1.66 billion pounds ($2.22 billion), slowing from 5.4 percent growth the previous year.

"Since the year end, Wetherspoon's like-for-like sales have continued to be encouraging and have increased by 6.1 percent. This is a positive start, but is for a few weeks only - and is very unlikely to continue for the rest of the year," Chairman Tim Martin said.

Britain pub and restaurant groups including Mitchells & Butlers and Whitbread (Frankfurt: WHF4.F - news) have warned that growth will slow as customers rein in spending amid rising inflation.

($1 = 0.7452 pounds) (Reporting by Rahul B in Bengaluru; editing by Jason Neely)