Whitbread struggles despite strong showing from Premier Travel Inn

Whitbread struggles despite strong showing from Premier Travel Inn

A strong performance from Premier Travel Inn has failed to offset falling sales in other parts of Whitbread's leisure portfolio.

Although Premier Travel Inn achieved 81.9% occupancy in the 39 weeks to 1 December, boosting like-for-like sales 7.3%, the company's other businesses struggled.

Whitbread's pub-restaurants division, which includes Brewers Fayre, saw a "disappointing" fall of 2.1% in like-for-like sales.

High-street restaurants, which include Costa Coffee and Pizza Hut and TGI Friday's, saw like-for-like sales dip 3.4% as consumer spending slowed.

David Lloyd Leisure's like-for-like sales fell 0.4% prompting the imminent introduction of a new management strategy to improve operational performance and drive growth.

Whitbread chief executive Alan Parker said: "Although we expect the remainder of the year to be challenging, the group continues to perform in line with our expectations."

Total sales at Whitbread were 8% ahead of last year's figures in the first three quarters of the year. But with the Premier Lodge acquisition stripped out, total sales were up only 3%, with like-for-like sales down 0.5%.

By Chris Druce

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