Overview
- The group said on Thursday that total sales rose 2% to £727m for the 13 weeks to May 28 as Premier Inn accommodation revenue increased while food and drink sales fell.
- Accommodation sales grew about 3% to £498m and forward bookings were stronger than a year ago, driven by leisure demand in the UK and Germany.
- Food and drink revenue dropped roughly 5% to £148m as Whitbread begins exiting standalone Beefeater and Brewers Fayre sites and agreed the sale of 51 restaurants for £50m with about 60 more planned for disposal.
- Whitbread confirmed plans to sell freeholds and cut nearly 4,000 roles to raise roughly £2bn, a programme that has drawn criticism from activist investor Corvex Management.
- The company is pressing the government over business rates after relief measures excluded hotels and restaurants, a change Whitbread says will add about £35m of yearly cost pressure and could affect future margins and asset sales.