Premier Inn owner Whitbread plans to add 4,200 hotel bedrooms to its portfolio this year.
The group, which also owns the Costa Coffee chain and number of restaurant brands, this morning reported an 11.3% increase in profits to £320.1m and an 11.2% rise in turnover to £1.8bn for the year ended 1 March.
Whitbread said it was on track to meet its 2016 growth target of having 65,000 bedrooms after adding 29 hotels to its portfolio. It now operates 620 hotels in the UK and Ireland with 47,429 rooms.
The group also plans to spend £70m refurbishing 13,000 bedrooms over the next two financial years.
Whitbread added that it was on track to achieve its five-year target, set down last year, of doubling the size of Costa Coffee. It added 175 UK stores and 157 overseas to the business this year, taking the total portfolio to 2,203 outlets.
jack.sidders@estatesgazette.com
