20th Oct 2015 06:12
LONDON (Alliance News) - Whitbread PLC on Tuesday said its pretax profit increased in the first half on higher sales and said its would hike its interim dividend, as it remains on track to meet its growth plans.
The FTSE 100-listed owner of hotel and coffee chains Premier Inn and Costa Coffee said its pretax profit for the six months to August 27 was GBP254.9 million, up from GBP241.8 million a year earlier. The latest half was hit by the group booking GBP25.2 million in exceptional charges on onerous leases for sold business and accelerated amortisation costs on its IT systems.
Total revenue was up to GBP1.44 billion in the half-year from GBP1.29 billion a year ago, with like-for-like sales growth across the group of 3.6%. Premier Inn total sales increased 13% in the half, while sales for Costa were up 16%. The group said it remains on track to meet its 2020 store opening target for Costa and its room expansion programme for Premier Inn.
Whitbread said trading in the second half so far has been in line with the first, and it is on track to hit its expectations for the full year.
The company declared an interim dividend of 28.50 pence per share, up from 25.20p a year earlier.
"Whitbread has produced another good set of results, demonstrating the strength of the Premier Inn and Costa brands. We are on track to deliver our growth milestones and will continue to invest in our people, our customer propositions and our systems to deliver profitable growth for our shareholders," said Richard Baker, Whitbread's chairman.
Baker also confirmed that Alison Brittain joined the company on September 28 as chief executive-designate and will take over from incumbent CEO Andy Harrison on December 7.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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