J D Wetherspoon, the pub chain, says it is comfortable with market profit expectations for the year after a good start, though sales growth has eased in recent weeks.
The consensus of seven analysts, compiled by the company, is for profit of £76.4 million in the 53 weeks to 1 August 2027.
Chairman Tim Martin said: "There are still three quarters to go and profit forecasts are very dependent on the level of sales growth."
Like-for-like sales, which strip out pubs opened or closed during the period, rose 8.2% in the 14 weeks to 1 November.
Growth eased to 7.5% in the most recent five weeks, down from 8.6% in the first nine weeks of the period.
Bar sales rose 9.4%, food 6.8% and slot and fruit machines 7.1%, while hotel room sales fell 1.4%.
Total sales, including new pubs, rose 9.1%.
In September, Wetherspoon's like-for-like sales rose 9.9%, against 2.7% for the wider industry on the NIQ RSM Hospitality Business Tracker, which monitors managed pub and restaurant groups.
It has now beaten the tracker for 49 consecutive months.
Net debt fell to £736 million at the end of the first quarter, from £756 million a year earlier.
The company has opened six managed pubs so far this year, including sites at Manchester and Heathrow airports, and sold one.
It now runs 797 managed pubs, with up to 10 more openings expected this year.
Its franchise estate has grown to 25 pubs, with a further 10 to 15 planned.
Martin used the update to restate his case that rising labour costs hit pubs far harder than supermarkets.
Labour makes up about 38% of a pub's sales against about 13% for a supermarket, so a 10% rise in labour costs adds about 17p to the cost of a pub pint but only about 1.5p to one bought in a supermarket.
That gap, he argued, has helped pubs lose half their beer sales to supermarkets since 2000, and cost jobs.
The pressure is made worse by supermarkets paying no VAT on food, while pubs and restaurants pay 20%.
