Premier Inn see sales rise as it open new properties

Whitbread's Premier Inn has continued to perform strongly, buoyed by a raft of new openings.

In a pre-close trading statement, Whitbread said its budget hotel chain had seen like-for-like sales increase 10.2% in the 24 weeks to 14 August.

Including the 14 Premier Inn hotels opened in the period, which added 1,157 rooms to the company's estate, total sales increased 17.9%.

Costa Coffee also performed well with total sales 23.6% ahead of last year with 108 new stores added since March taking Costa to 1,100 stores around the world. Like-for-like sales grew 3.7%.

Whitbread is spending almost £5m refurbishing its Brewers Fayre pub estate and like-for-like sales increased 4.4% with total sales 6% ahead.

Alan Parker, chief executive of Whitbread, said efforts to reshape the business, which has seen it dispose of TGI Fridays, Marriott (UK) and Pizza Hut in recent years, and focus on value for money meant it was well placed to cope with the economic slowdown.

"We remain vigilant in these challenging economic times and are alert to whatever further action is required," he said.

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By Chris Druce

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