Whitbread posts sales increase of 13%

Whitbread has posted a sales increase of 13% for the 39 weeks to 28 November 2013 compared with last year.

The results, which comprise the group's Premier Inn and Costa brands as well as its other "restaurants" and "hotels and restaurants", show like for like sales up by 3.3% compared with the same timeframe last year, and also show a 13.8% increase for the 13 weeks to 28 November.

Premier Inn's total sales for the time period have also grown by 12.9%, with room night sold up 10%.

Costa's total sales went up by 19.4%, with franchise sales up 17.3%.

Chief executive of Whitbread Andy Harrison said: "Whitbread has delivered another strong quarter, driven by the strength of Premier Inn and Costa and an improved performance from Restaurants. This keeps us on track to deliver full year results in line with expectations."

The brand is also hoping to grow its new hub by Premier Inn venture, with the first site due for Central London by the end of 2014.

Costa is also expanding, with 133 new stores in the UK and 54 opening in China over the past 12 months, bringing the total number of outlets to 2,773.

Whitbread has also announced that its non-executive director Susan Hooper will be stepping down from the company in January 2014, to concentrate on her new role as managing director of British Gas, while Ian Cheshire will become senior independent director from 1 January.