Premier Inn and Costa parent company today recorded half-year revenues up by 10.7% to more than £891 million based on a 3.3% rise in like-for-like sales.
Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants’ profit before tax for the six months to September 1 was up by 15% to almost £175 million. Underlying profits were up by 8.5% to £167.1 million.
Costa saw underlying profits rise by 41.8% to £27.8 million. The hotels and restaurants division opened 12 new hotels, 1,408 rooms and five restaurants in the period.
Company chairman Anthony Habgood said: “The strong first half performances of our two main growth engines, Premier Inn and Costa give us confidence to continue to expand the business.”
Chief Executive Andy Harrison said: “Our strong brands, supported by customer driven commercial actions, are providing winning customer propositions.
“We are continuing to grow our business and this year we plan to open 4,000 new Premier Inn rooms and 14 new restaurants in the UK, together with 300 Costa stores worldwide.
“This is another step towards our five year growth milestones which will grow Premier Inn UK by almost 50% to 65,000 rooms and increase the Costa network by 75% to 3,500 stores worldwide, together with at least 3,000 Costa Express machines.
“Our overall first half sales performance is the best guide to the group’s underlying trading, although on a month by month basis trading continues to be variable in a challenging consumer environment.
“The first half performance puts us on track to deliver full year results in line with expectations.”