
Whitbread reports double digit total sales growth for the first quarter
comments: “Whitbread has begun the new financial year well, with a 13.9% growth in total sales, driven by a 4.5% growth in like for like sales and the continuing expansion of Premier Inn and Costa.Our consistent investment in product quality and customer experience has helped our strong brands to outperform their competitors. In the first quarter Premier Inn grew total sales by 12.4% with revpar*2 growing by 2.9%, boosted by a strong April, and outperforming the midscale and economy sector*3 where revpar fell by 2.6%. Costa has continued its excellent momentum delivering a 25.3% growth in total sales, with an 8.4% increase in UK like for like sales and strong international growth. We are pleased to see that the sharper focus in our Restaurants business has helped maintain its improved performance.Our plans for profitable growth are well established, supported by our strong balance sheet, and we plan to open 4,200 Premier Inn rooms, eight joint site restaurants and 350 new Costa stores this financial year, creating an additional 3,500 UK jobs. We expect comparative quarterly trading to continue to be variable. April benefitted substantially from a weak comparative due to the extended Royal Wedding holiday in 2011. For the second quarter we face tougher comparatives against a strong result last year, together with the uncertain impact of this summer’s major sporting events.”