10th Sep 2013 07:22
LONDON (Alliance News) - Whitbread PLC Tuesday reported strong sales growth in the second quarter and the first half of the year, boosted by a pick up in sales from its Premier Inn hotels in London, and from the Costa Coffee chain.
The multinational hotel, coffee shop and restaurant company, well known for brands, which also include Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, said in a trading update, that total sales in the 11 weeks to August 15, rose by 11%, boosted by a 17% increase in sales from its Costa Coffee chain. On a like-for-like basis, total sales rose 2.1% in the period, and in the first half of the year, total sales were up 12%.
Whitbread said sales growth for its Premier Inn hotels rose 12% in the 24 weeks to August 15, buoyed by particular strong growth in London, and by the addition of 1,270 new rooms. During the period, it said that total revenue per available room in the UK and Ireland increased by 2.3%, and the total room night sold, rose by 11% to 7.2 million.
Whitbread said its Costa Coffee chain was the biggest growth driver during the first half of the year, with total sales up 21%, and UK like for like sales growth of 5.7%, partly due to colder weather condition in the first few months of the year.
It said that Costa's total system sales rose by 20% to GBP521.9 million in the first half, with total franchise system sales up 18% to GBP207.3 million.
The group said that so far this year it has opened 78 net new UK stores, 70 in UK Retail, and 8 in Costa Enterprises, which includes Costa Express machines in petrol stations and other convenient locations.
Whitbread said that international sales grew by 21% to GBP115.6 million, with particularly strong growth coming from Costa Asia. The group said that so far this year it has opened 54 net new stores internationally, including 30 in China, where it now has 283 stores. It said it also opened a Costa coffee shop in Bangkok, Thailand.
The group said that like-for-like sales in its restaurant business declined 0.1% during the period, and it closed two restaurant sites during the period.
Whitbread shares were quoted early Tuesday at 3,126.47 pence per share, down 89.53p or 2.8%.
By Rowena Harris-Doughty; [email protected]; @rharrisdoughty
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