Whitbread has reported its trading performance for the 50 weeks to 13th February 2014, and is ‘’on track to deliver full year results towards the top end of current expectations”.
Sales update (% change vs. prior year)
Sales for the 11 weeks to 13th February 2014 | Sales for the 50 weeks to 13th February 2014 | |||
Like for like sales | Total sales | Like for like sales*¹ | Total sales | |
Premier Inn | 8.3% | 15.2% | 4.7% | 13.3% |
Restaurants | 4.4% | 5.8% | 1.3% | 3.7% |
Hotels and Restaurants | 6.6% | 11.4% | 3.4% | 9.8% |
Costa | 7.3% | 18.2% | 5.8% | 20.1% |
Total | 6.8% | 14.0% | 4.0% | 13.2% |
Andy Harrison, Chief Executive of Whitbread, comments:
“Whitbread delivered a strong fourth quarter, with total sales growth of 14.0% and like for like sales growth of 6.8%, driven by a particularly good Christmas trading period and, to a lesser extent, favourable weather comparatives in January.
“Premier Inn grew total sales by 15.2% and like for like sales by 8.3% in the fourth quarter, with a 5.7% increase in rooms available. We grew total revpar in London and the UK Regions by 7.0% and 9.6% respectively. We continue to invest in our product quality and the Premier Inn brand with the launch of “our best ever bed” campaign. This is a central pillar of our enhanced refurbishment programme.
“The performance of Whitbread Restaurants continued to improve and benefitted from the absence of snow with like for like sales growth of 4.4% in the quarter. We welcomed some 92,000 guests to our restaurants on Christmas Day with sales up 5.8%.
“Costa had an excellent fourth quarter with total sales growth of 18.2%, driven by 312 net new store openings in the year and 7.3% UK like for like sales growth. Our Christmas campaign was well received, with like for like store transactions up 6.1% in the quarter.
“The strong fourth quarter brings our year to date growth in total sales to 13.2% and like for like sales growth to 4.0%. This puts us on track to deliver full year results towards the top end of current expectations.”