20th Jun 2006 07:00
Whitbread PLC20 June 2006 20TH JUNE 2006 WHITBREAD AGM TRADING UPDATE Whitbread PLC will today report a positive start to the year at its AnnualGeneral Meeting. In the 13 weeks to 1st June 2006 total sales for Continuing Whitbread* increasedby 6.9% on the previous year, and like for like sales by 1.6%. Sales for 13 weeks to 1st June 2006 % change vs prior year Like for like sales Total salesPremier Travel Inn 6.7% 13.7%Pub Restaurants (2.0%) 0.2%David Lloyd Leisure 2.1% 6.1%High Street Restaurants 1.9% 14.1% Continuing Whitbread 1.6% 6.9% Alan Parker, Chief Executive, Whitbread PLC comments: "We are pleased to report that the year has started robustly with total salesshowing growth of nearly 7% and three of our four major businesses generatingpositive like for like sales. This reflects a number of the structural andoperational changes that we have made to our business to improve performance andcreate value. Premier Travel Inn continues to perform well and David Lloyd Leisure isresponding to the changes put in place last Autumn with an improved revenueperformance. We are taking steps to turn round our retained Pub Restaurantsbusiness. In High Street Restaurants Costa has put in another good performance,while the TGI Fridays and Pizza Hut franchise businesses remain under review. Following our announcement in April to focus our Pub Restaurants estate on thosejoint sites with a Premier Travel Inn, we are undertaking the disposal of 235standalone Beefeater and Brewers Fayre pub restaurants. The sale process isprogressing well and we have been encouraged by the high level of interest inthese quality assets. In our retained Pub Restaurant estate, the new management team is taking actionto reduce overheads and is reviewing the operating plans for the co-locatedsites, with the focus being on driving the top line through covers growth. Anupdate on these plans will be given at the half year. Premier Travel Inn continues to grow sales through a mix of outstanding like forlike sales performance and aggressive new room openings building towards our45,000 rooms target by 2010. In the first quarter we have opened 1133 roomsincluding eight hotel conversions; seven Holiday Inns and a hotel previouslytrading as a Days Inn. David Lloyd Leisure's recent improvement in membership retention has been a keydriver behind the like for like sales growth. Membership in like for like UKclubs was up by 1.8% over the same period last year and total membershipincluding Continental Europe now stands at just under 374,000. We continue todevelop initiatives to drive membership and improve site utilisation and a goodexample is the recently announced partnership with Saga aimed at the over 50smarket. Costa has had an impressive start to the year with 6.5% like for likes sales andtotal sales growth of 23.7% driven by 46 new openings. We have announced todayour expansion plans into China with a joint venture partnership coveringShanghai and Eastern China. At today's meeting, shareholders will vote on the method of returning £400m cashand a consequent share consolidation, which if approved, will give a choice asto how and when they receive the return. Although the second quarter has started slowly the Board remains confident aboutthe prospects for Whitbread as it continues to focus management and capital onthose businesses in which the company has leading positions and strong growthprospects. Our key priorities remain to: • execute our aggressive growth plans for Premier Travel Inn and Costa • drive improved sales performance in the retained pub restaurant business • build on the momentum of the turnaround in David Lloyd Leisure • complete the sale of our standalone pub restaurant estate • complete the review of our franchised restaurant brands End * Sales of Continuing Whitbread comprise Premier Travel Inn, the total PubRestaurant estate, David Lloyd Leisure, Costa and TGI Friday's but exclude thePizza Hut joint venture and any supply chain sales to third parties. Conference call for analysts and investors Alan Parker and Christopher Rogers will be available for a conference call at 8.15 am today. To participate, dial +44 (0) 20 7138 0836 A recording of the conference call will be available for seven days. To listen,dial +44 (0) 20 7806 1970 and enter the passcode 5225347#. This service will beactive approximately one hour after the conference call has finished. For more information please contact: Investor Relations:Christopher Rogers, Whitbread PLC +44 (0) 1582 396 581 Press Contacts:Anna Glover, Whitbread PLC +44 (0) 1582 844 439Andrew Grant, Tulchan +44 (0) 20 7353 4200 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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