1st May 2025 10:38
(Alliance News) - Whitbread PLC on Thursday reported a drop in profit and revenue in its recent financial year, affected by its Food & Beverage service costs and revenue.
Whitbread is a Bedfordshire, England-based hotel and restaurant owner which owns the Premier Inn brand.
It reported pretax profit of GBP367.8 million in the year that ended February 27, down 19% from GBP451.7 million in financial 2024, as revenue fell 1.3% to GBP2.92 billion from GBP2.96 billion.
Profit also was hurt by impairment charges of GBP76 million, as well as the company's IT and Food & Beverage programme costs, which amounted to GBP45 million.
The decline in overall revenue was due to lower Food & Beverage revenue as a result of Whitbread's 'accelerating growth plan' and a "softer UK market demand". Food and beverage revenue was GBP673.1 million in the recent financial year, down 10% from GBP750.6 million.
However, the company said this was "mitigated by strong growth in Germany". Food & Beverage revenue in Germany was GBP26.7 million in financial 2025, up 19% from GBP22.4 million.
In the UK & Ireland, Food & Beverage revenue was GBP646.4 million, down 11% from GBP728.2 million.
Accommodation revenue totalled GBP2.21 billion in the recent financial year, up 1.7% from GBP2.17 billion in financial 2024.
Whitbread declared a final dividend of 60.60 pence per share for financial 2025, down 3.7% from 62.90p a year before. This brought the full-year payout to 97.0p, unchanged from financial 2024.
Whitbread also Thursday started a GBP250 million share buyback programme. It will be run by investment bankers Morgan Stanley & Co International PLC and be completed by April 30 next year.
Whitbread said it is "positive" about its medium-term outlook and the delivery of its five-year plan which is expected to increase group adjusted pretax profit by around GBP300 million by financial year 2030. Adjusted pretax profit was GBP483 million in financial 2025, down 14% from GBP561 million in financial 2024, so Whitbread is aiming for GBP783 million by financial 2030.
Whitbread also said it is on track to generate more than GBP2.00 billion in operating cashflow for share buybacks and dividends.
Chief Executive Dominic Paul said: "This will be a breakthrough year in Germany and we are set to deliver our first ever adjusted profit in financial 2026. We are growing quickly, driving strong guest satisfaction scores, performing well ahead of the market and our cohort of more established hotels is on track to reach its targeted double-digit level of returns.
"We remain confident in realising our long-term ambition of becoming the country's number one hotel brand, delivering significant revenue growth, attractive long-term returns and providing a platform for potential expansion into other international markets."
Whitbread shares were up 2.7% to 2,661.85 pence in London on Thursday morning, while the wider FTSE 100 index was marginally lower.
By Olivia Mason-Myhill, Alliance News reporter
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