In this age, where companies are rarely doing well, it is confidence inspiring when even one company reports a marginal profit. JD Weatherspoon, a reputed pubs operator, has revealed that it obtained profit in the first half of the operating fiscal, to the tune of £36.2 million. This is followed by the additional good news that dividend payments will be restored for the shareholders that have stood by the company through this economic turmoil.

A claim to fame for the group is its offering of inexpensive drinks and value meals, which pushed its sales in the month of March. The sales increased marginally to just 0.1%, finishing off at 4.1% in total. This translates to a turnover of £488.1 million, considering that the group actually reported difficulties with the government's crackdown on pubs.

Post the positive news, share holders received a 12p dividend plus a 7p special dividend, which will be paid out at the same time. All these are applicable post the financial year ending in July 2009.

The company's debt fell down marginally to £383.5 million, a £4.7 million drop from the previous year.

On the back of solid performance, JD Weatherspoon also opened 17 pubs, pushing their total pubs to 746. They also plan to open 50 new pubs in the coming year.

As expected, the good news pushed the price of the stock to 505p, to close strong. Many investors are expecting additional good news from the group and expect to see a rise in the stock price over the coming days.