Partner Article

Sales jump for Whitbread

Owners of Costa Coffee and Premier Inn, Whitbread have reported a 25% jump in sales in the second quarter.

The hotel and food retail business said the Olympics had provided a “modest benefit”, as its Premier Inn brand saw growth in revenue per available room.

“Revpar” as it is known in the industry grew by 2.3% with occupancy up 0.4 percentage points to 79.4%.

Elsewhere in the firm’s Costa brand, sales grew by 19.9% to £234.3m, as Whitbread opening 50 new UK stores in the quarter.

Total sales were up 14.8% in the 11 weeks to August 16.

Andy Harrison, Chief Executive of Whitbread comments: “Whitbread has continued to deliver good sales growth with total sales up 14.8% in our second quarter. Our brands have outperformed in a tough economic climate, with like for like sales growth of 4.2% and we have continued our network expansion at Costa and Premier Inn.

As expected, the Olympics provided a modest benefit, primarily through increased room rate, with occupancy slightly down on last year. The cap on our London prices, to maintain Premier Inn’s positioning for great value, constrained revpar growth.“

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .