Whitbread toasts hotel bookings

SHARES in Whitbread fell nearly 5pc as strong sales at Premier Inn failed to lift the mood following a slowdown at Costa Coffee.

The FTSE 100 firm closed down 4.8pc or 189p to 3753p after it reported a 7.4pc rise in half-year revenues to £1.7bn. Profits were up 19.9pc to £316m. Premier Inn was the stand-out performer, with profits jumping 26.5pc to £295m after revenues at the hotel chain rose 6.4pc to £1.1bn.

By contrast, profits at Costa Coffee fell 9.8pc to £59m. Although total revenues were up, crucial like-for-like sales growth slowed from 2.3pc in the first half last year to just 0.6pc this time around.

Whitbread is planning to expand its Premier Inn business. Chief executive Alison Brittain said the firm is focused on growing in its core UK markets and on ‘structural growth opportunities’ in Germany. Earlier this month Whitbread paid £35m to seize full control of its Costa Coffee joint venture in China, part of its plan to grow internationally.

It said: ‘The coffee shop market in China is expected to more than double in size by 2020.’