Pub company JD Wetherspoon hopes to open an additional “four or five” outlets in Scotland by next spring.

The business, which already has more than 70 pubs in Scotland, said plans for a new Edinburgh site along with one in East Kilbride are at the most advanced stage.

It is also looking closely at premises in Largs, Stirling, Leven and Hamilton.

Chairman and founder Tim Martin said: “There is a number in the pipeline.”

That came as Wetherspoon, which employs almost 35,000 around the UK, reported record annual revenue of £1.51 billion for the 12 months to July 26.

That was up more than seven per cent from the £1.41bn recorded in the prior year.

Underlying pre-tax profits dipped two per cent from £79.4m to just short of £78m with Mr Martin stating his satisfaction with the performance as “we are still earning a buck”.

The annual dividend was maintained at 12p.

Like-for-like sales increased 3.3 per cent although that was slower than the 5.5 per cent expansion seen in the prior year.

Bar sales were up 1.2 per cent and food sales by 7.3 per cent although gambling machine sales continued to fall, ending down 2.8 per cent.

The company took exceptional charges of £12.6m in the year which included an £11.2m impairment on underperforming pubs.

Mr Martin acknowledged the trading environment has been tougher in recent months and warned the pub industry as a whole will have to raise prices to cope with legislation such as the minimum wage increases as well as competition from cheap supermarket booze deals.

He pointed out the company had raised the minimum hourly rate for staff by five per cent in October and a further eight per cent in July. On top of that it pays around 40 per cent of profits as bonuses or shares with around four-fifths going to staff in its pubs.

Mr Martin said: “We will try not to [raise prices] but speaking of the pub industry as a whole it is inevitable than prices will go up and more than they will do in supermarkets.

“We will do as much as we can to keep our prices as low as possible and pay our staff as much as we reasonably can.”

Mr Martin stated the pricing pressure are more likely to be felt in less affluent areas and smaller towns that in city centres.

The company is also looking at adding hotel rooms to more of its pubs with a possible 73-bed hotel above its Crystal Palace on Jamaica Street in Glasgow one of its flagship developments.

It also has rooms at sites in Peebles, Dunfermline, Broughty Ferry, Edinburgh, Fraserburgh and Glenrothes.

Mr Martin said: “In the old days we often developed the lower parts of a building and left the upper parts empty. We find the upper parts can deteriorate a bit.

“So if we can possibly afford it then it is better to build hotel rooms where we can.”

Mr Martin reiterated his stance that pubs are taxed excessively particularly on food sales when compared to supermarkets.

He said: “Supermarkets pay virtually no VAT in respect of food sales, whereas pubs pay 20 per cent - and this disparity enables supermarkets to subsidise their alcoholic drinks sales to the detriment of pubs and restaurants.”

Like-for-like sales in the six weeks to September 6 increased 1.4 per cent with total sales rising 5.2 per cent.

Mr Martin said he was not expecting an impact from the forthcoming Rugby World Cup in England which would materially affect its annual results.