Whitbread reports 12.6% rise in first half profit
Whitbread has posted a 12.6% rise in profit before tax for the first half of 2013, with revenue up 12.4% to £1.14b.
Premier Inn and Costs Coffee made the most significant contribution. The budget hotel brand reported sales up 12.2%, with like for like sales growing 3.3%.
Underlying profit at the 1,664 Costa Coffee stores rose 20.5% to £43.5m, and was up 5.5% on a like for like basis.
The hotels and restaurants division of the group increased revenue by 8.7% to £767.3m. In the period Premier Inn opened 1,368 new rooms, taking the total to 53,039.
Whitbread chief executive Andy Harrison said the group's targets of 65,000 rooms by 2016 was not in sight.
He said: "Whitbread has delivered another good performance with double digit growth. The combination of organic network expansion and good like for like sales growth, drove a 12.6% increase in underlying pre-tax profits. Since the onset of the recession in 2008/9, Whitbread has grown its sales and underlying pre-tax profits by 11.1% and 12.0% per annum respectively, demonstrating the strength of the business and our leading market positions.
"Our two growth engines, Premier Inn and Costa, performed well. Premier Inn, the UK's leading hotel chain, continued to win market share, opening 12 new hotels. This contributed to a total sales increase of 12.2%, with especially strong growth in London where sales grew by 18.4%. Like for like sales grew by 3.3% with an increase in occupancy to 80.3%."
Whitbread unveils new expansion targets as annual profits rise 14% >>
