Premier Inn half year sales grow despite decline in London revpar

The UK’s largest budget chain Premier Inn saw total sales grow by 8.9% in the first half of the year.
 
Parent company Whitbread reported that overall operating profits for the six months to September 1 for Premier Inn and its restaurants division grew by a similar level to £271.5 million.
 
However, total revenue per available room [revpar] at Premier Inn fell by 6.8% over the first six months of last year. Overall occupancy dropped by 1.1 percentage points to 82.6% as capacity grew by 9.3%.
 
“Premier Inn’s London like for like revpar [revenue per available room] decline was in line with the midscale and economy market due to subdued corporate demand, whilst the total market traded ahead of this, benefiting from strong inbound leisure demand over the summer months,” the company said.