Whitbread's annual revenue is up 11.2%
Whitbread's expansion strategy is proving effective, with total revenue at the group up 11.2% to £1,778m, for the 12 months to March.
Profit before tax grew 11.3% to £320m, the company said in its preliminary results announced this morning, driven by an "excellent" performance by its Costa coffee chain.
Costa opened 175 new outlets in the UK, as well as 157 overseas, taking the total global estate to 2,030 stores.
Another 350 stores are planned for the 2012/2013 period in a bid to realise the firm's ambition to have 3,500 stores worldwide by 2015/2016. This contributed to a total sales increase of 27.5% to £542m. Like-for-like sales rose 5.5% and underlying profits were up 38% to £69.7m.
Premier Inn delivered a "resilient performance" in the budget hotel sector, which Whitbread said became more challenging as the year progressed.
Like-for-like revenue per available room (revpar) grew by 1.8% in the year, driven primarily by properties in the capital. Its London hotels saw revpar increase 7.3% while the regions delivered modest growth of 0.8%.
Whitbread said it will continue to invest in the Premier Inn estate, with around £70m earmarked for the refurbishment of 13,000 rooms over the two financial years to February 2013.
The company opened 29 new hotels and 4,055 new rooms, taking the total number in the UK & Ireland to 620 with 47,429 rooms.
A further 4,200 rooms are planned for the new financial year, which Whitbread said keeps it on track to reach its target of 65,000 rooms by 2015/2016.
The group's pub restaurant brands, including Brewers Fayre, saw like-for-like sales go by 1.2% and covers up 4.8% for the second half of the year after a "disappointing" first half.
Andy Harrison, chief executive (pictured), said: "Last year we grew Costa's worldwide network by 18%, well on the way towards our five-year goal of doubling the size of Costa. This growth, combined with our strong focus on returns, should create substantial shareholder value.
"In the new financial year both Premier Inn and Restaurants have shown positive like-for-like sales growth and Costa has continued its good momentum, both in the UK and internationally.
"Trading in 2011/12 was variable month by month and we expect this to continue with short term comparatives affected by the phasing of bank holidays and the Olympics."
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By Janie Manzoori-Stamford
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