Whitbread said it remained on course to add 4,000 rooms to its budget Premier Inn hotel chain after announcing a 7% revenue rise in a half-year trading update today.
The UK’s largest hotel and restaurant company said Premier Inn’s sales were up 10% in the 24 weeks to 14 August and revenue per available room increased 5.8%.
The chain opened 14 hotels during the period and recently added 21 sites to Premier Inn, which opened its 500th British hotel in November after swapping 44 pubs with Mitchells & Butlers.
Whitbread said it would spend £18m to convert the hotels by early 2009.
The Premier Inn brand outpaced the 3.7% increase on its Costa coffee shops and the 4.4% growth at Whitbread’s pub restaurants.
The Costa chain also expanded to 1,100 stores, adding 74 new cafes in the UK and 34 overseas, including its first outlet in Beijing.
In all, the rise in group revenue was just slightly down on the 7.1% recorded in the first quarter.
Chief executive Alan Parker said: “Whitbread has continued to be resilient in a period of consumer uncertainty. We believe this to be as a result both of the action taken in recent years to reshape the group and our continuing emphasis on value for money.
“Our strong balance sheet and disciplined approach to investment put us in a good position to take advantage of additional growth opportunities.”
Whitbread will announce its half-year results on the 14 October 2008.
