13th Jul 2016 13:15
LONDON (Alliance News) - Whitbread PLC said Wednesday it plans to withdraw from its Premier Inn operations in India and South East Asia as it focuses on a smaller number of specific markets.
The company said that, in line with its strategy set out in April, it plans to concentrate on its Premier Inn international growth strategy, focusing on markets where it can generate good long-term returns and where it sees the greatest long-term opportunity to build scale.
Premier Inn will focus on growing its businesses in Germany, a structurally-attractive hotel market, and in the Middle East, but will commence a phased withdrawal from operations in India and South East Asia.
Its plans for Premier Inn in the UK are unaltered, Whitbread said, as are plans for coffee chain Costa's UK and international plans. The hit from costs associated from the withdrawal are not considered material.
"In April I laid out a three-point plan to build a bigger and better Whitbread. I reiterated the strong growth prospects for Whitbread in the UK, where we have laid out bold milestones for Premier Inn and Costa and confirmed that Whitbread also has an exciting future beyond the UK. A key strategic theme is to focus on our strengths internationally and that means identifying those opportunities to invest our capital and management time wisely to generate the best and most sustainable returns," said Chief Executive Officer Alison Brittain in a statement.
"To build a successful future for Premier Inn overseas, we must focus on those markets where we can grow scale and where our brand proposition is most compelling for our customers," Brittain added.
Shares in Whitbread were up 0.2% at 3,716.00 pence Wednesday.
By Hana Stewart-Smith; [email protected]; @HanaSSAllNews
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