19th Jun 2025 08:53
(Alliance News) - Whitbread PLC on Thursday reported a drop in sales, and lower revenue per available room in the UK, in its financial first quarter as growth in Germany was offset by weakness in the UK.
The Bedfordshire, England-based hotel and restaurant company owns brands including Premier Inn, Brewers Fayre, Beefeater and Whitbread Inns.
Total group sales fell by 3.8% to GBP710.9 million in the 13 weeks that ended May 29, the first quarter of its financial year, from GBP739.2 million a year prior, or by 1% on a like-for-like basis.
Total UK sales were down 5.4% to GBP648.2 million from GBP685.2 million. Accommodation sales fell 1.8% to GBP485.0 million from GBP494.1 million, while food and beverage revenue sales dropped 15% to GBP163.2 million from GBP191.0 million.
UK revenue per available room fell 2.4% to GBP62 in the quarter from GBP63.54 a year ago.
By region, RevPAR dropped 5.5% in London and by 1.7% in the 'regions'.
UK food and drink sales have been impacted by a restructure that Whitbread started in April last year, which includes cutting back its restaurant business to build more hotel rooms.
The GBP500 million plan, dubbed 'accelerating growth', involves converting 112 branded restaurants into new hotel rooms and selling 126 more.
Whitbread sales the food and beverage sales performance was in line with its expectations.
In Germany, total sales rose 16% to GBP62.7 million from GBP54.0 million with accommodation revenue up 15% and food & beverage sales up 22%.
RevPAR in Germany increased 12% to EUR63.43 in the quarter from EUR56.79 a year ago.
In response, shares in Whitbread fell 2.4% to 2,721.87 pence each in London on Thursday morning.
Chief Executive Dominic Paul said in the UK, Whitbread continues to "outperform against a challenging market backdrop", with total accommodation sales and RevPAR growth "ahead of the market".
"Whilst the short-lead nature of our business means that our forward visibility remains limited, our forward booked position is ahead of last year and we remain confident that we can continue to outperform the market," he added.
CEO Paul hailed "another strong trading performance" in Germany, saying the business remains "on course" to deliver profitability in financial 2026.
In the UK, Whitbread said its forward booked position remains ahead of last year and "whilst forward visibility remains limited, our commercial initiatives are underpinning our confidence in being able to continue to outperform the market".
In Germany, "we are trading strongly and remain on course to deliver profitability in FY26 which is a key milestone for us as we progress towards our longer-term target of double-digit returns on capital," the firm added.
Whitbread said its five-year plan is on track to deliver incremental profit of at least GBP300 million by financial 2030, "generating more than GBP2 billion for shareholder returns".
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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