Costa profit surge gives cautious owners a boost

COSTA Coffee owner Whitbread has cheered a jump in annual profit, but said it remains “cautious” amid forecasts for a tougher year ahead.

The group reported a 6.2% rise in underlying pre-tax profits in the 52 weeks to March 2 to £565.2m, while total revenue rose by 8.2% to £3.1bn.

It comes as its Premier Inn and restaurants business chalked up a 7.4% rise in full-year underlying operating profit to £468m, while the Costa unit saw a 5.3% rise to £158m.

However, chief executive Alison Brittain said the company is steadying itself for the months ahead.

It comes as retailers start to prepare for a pullback in consumer spending due to rising inflation, caused by the post-Brexit vote collapse of the pound.

“Whilst we are only seven weeks into our new financial year, Premier Inn has had a good start to the year and Costa has also seen positive likefor-like sales growth, although we remain cautious and expect a tougher consumer environment than last year,” said Ms Brittain.

UK inflation has risen to 2.3%, but the Bank of England expects that to rise to 2.7% by the end of 2017, peaking at 2.8% in the first half of 2018 and easing to 2.4% by 2019.

If inflation continues to outpace wage growth, experts say consumers are likely to become more cautious about splashing out on leisure and other non-essential items.

In its trading update, Whitbread’s directors said they will continue to monitor the “risk of a wider macroeconomic effect as a result of the UK leaving the EU, including foreign exchange and interest rate fluctuations.”

But Ms Brittain said Whitbread will be able to deliver “another year of good progress, in line with overall expectations” as it pushes ahead with a £150m cost efficiency programme announced in November.