John Schembri (Sidewalks and Smokers, September 12) should at least have read the full article (Pub Operator's Profit Up After Smoking Ban Trials, September 9) not only the headline, which was very misleading, before giving his opinion. He would have noticed that the profits were made by the pubs which still allow smoking: "Mr Hutson said the decline in operating profit reflected the fact that improved food sales in a non-smoking environment have not made up for the loss of high-margin sales from the bar, cigarette machines and gambling machines. 'Food sales have a lower margin, with higher labour costs,'" he said.

If Mr Schembri would have further investigated on the internet (Scotsman, September 9), he would have found out that pubs group JD Wetherspoon had spent an average of £40,000 on each of its Scottish outlets to combat an 11 per cent slump in profits in the three months to the end of July, as the smoking ban bit.

So please take note: a smoking ban is not good for business. John Hutson, Wetherspoon's chief executive officer, said he believed the smoking ban would lead to volatility for a year to two but would settle down - and the group remained in favour of it. But let me ask Mr Schembri: which stand-alone bar can afford to make a loss for one or two years, till the isssue "has settled down"?