Whitbread eyes big Premier Inn hotels push

Leisure giant Whitbread on Tuesday gave investors a glimpse of what the business will look like once it completes a £3.9 billion sale of Costa Coffee, by revealing “ambitious” growth plans for Premier Inn.

The FTSE 100 firm’s chief executive Alison Brittain said once the Costa sale to Coca-Cola happens in early 2019, Whitbread “will be a focused hotel business”.

She added that there is scope to have over 100,000 rooms in the UK, up from 74,000 it already owns and 13,000 planned.

The company is also looking to build 6000 rooms in Germany by 2021 and enter the budget no-frills accommodation sector.

Brittain’s expansion plan was outlined in Whitbread’s first set of financial results since announcing the Costa disposal in August.

Costa Coffee saw profits rise 3.5% to £47 million.

Whitbread’s pre-tax profits were flat at £257 million.

Premier Inn sales increased 2.6% to £1.1 billion, but the firm warned it saw “some weakness in consumer demand over the summer” in the UK.

Whitbread also said its profit growth may be lower than in previous years due to its investment proposals and inflationary pressures. Hospitality firms are grappling with higher wages and business rates.

Brittain told the Standard she would like to see “a bit of TLC in terms of cost inflation [help]” in the chancellor’s budget.

Shares in Whitbread decreased 139p to 4325p.