Budget hotel chain Premier Inn saw sales grow by more than 14% in parent company Whitbread’s fourth quarter.
The company claimed the chain outperformed rivals in the 11 weeks to February 14.
Premier Inn increased total room nights sold by 11.2% to 13 million in the first 50 weeks of the year, Whitbread said in a trading update this morning.
Revenue per available room (revPAR), a measure of profitability in the hospitality sector, grew by 1.6% with occupancy up 1.1% to 77.4% and rate up by 0.1%.
Like-for-like revPAR for the fourth quarter grew by 0.8% with occupancy up 4.2% but rate down 5.5%.
Premier Inn’s total revPAR in the UK regions was down 0.3% in the final three months compared with a decline of 0.9% for the mid-scale and economy sector and growth of 0.8% for the total market.
The chain saw London RevPAR up by 2.2% in the final quarter against a sector decline of 5% at a time when capacity rose by 22%
Whitbread chief executive Andy Harrison said: “For the financial year to date, Whitbread has again delivered outstanding organic growth in a flat consumer market, growing total sales by 14.8%.
“Our strong brands continue to win market share, supported by our highest ever guest satisfaction scores and rapid expansion of our network.
“During the fourth quarter, we maintained our strong momentum with total sales growth of 16.9%, although the headline like-for-like sales growth of 2.7% was slightly suppressed by adverse weather conditions in January, particularly affecting the restaurants business.
“Premier Inn continued to outperform its competitive set and delivered total sales growth of 14.1% together with like-for-like sales growth of 2.9%.”
He added: “We see no change to market conditions, although we expect a more competitive environment. We shall continue to deliver good organic growth and are on track to achieve our 2016 growth milestones.”