Member Article

Whitbread continue caffeine-fuelled growth

Whitbread has seen a 3.9% increase in like-for-like sales, driven by its coffee brand Costa.

Sales across the company’s Premier Inn chain were up 3.3% and delivered a total revenue per available room of 0.7%. This is in contrast to the decline of 0.6% for the total UK hotel market.

Whitbread reported total Costa sales were up 25.5%, as the Middle East offered “solid” performance which the company said conditions in Central and Southern Europe remained “difficult.”

There are plans to open 330 net new stores and 1,300 Costa Express units, like those seen in filling stations and convenience stores, over the full year.

In the hotel and restaurant division, Whitbread are looking to open 4,500 new rooms with eight joint site restaurants in the UK.

Andy Harrison, Chief Executive of Whitbread, comments: “Whitbread continued its strong growth momentum with total sales up 14.4% together with good like for like sales growth of 3.3%. This once again demonstrates the strength of our brands.

“The economic environment remains challenging with no change in our background consumer market. We are on track to deliver full year results in line with expectations.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .