Whitbread PLC has reported trading performance for the 13 weeks to 28 May 2015 with good trading and first quarter sales up a total 12.5%.
Hannah Maundrell, Editor in Chief of money.co.uk commented on the results:
“Whitbread’s strong first quarter is a clear sign that consumers are feeling more free and easy with their finances. For the first time in what seems a long time households have spare cash to spend on treats like take-out coffee and travel thanks to our low inflation environment, and they certainly seem to be making the most of it. The hope is that Brits aren’t sticking to big brands so smaller businesses can enjoy this comparative boom too.”
Sales for the 13 weeks to 28 May 2015
Like for like sales, Total sales
Premier Inn – 6.3%, 14.3%
Restaurants – 0.1%, 1.6%
Hotels and Restaurants – 4.1%, 9.9%
Costa – 5.0%, 17.2%
Total – 4.3%, 12.5%
Alison Brittain to join as Chief Executive Designate on 28 September
Whitbread Chairman, Richard Baker said:
“I am pleased to confirm that Alison Brittain will now be joining Whitbread as Chief Executive Designate on 28 September. Alison will start as Chief Executive on 7 December enabling a smooth transition with Andy Harrison who will be retiring from the Company on that date.”
Chief Executive, Andy Harrison, commented on the figures:
“Whitbread has begun the new financial year well, in line with expectations, with total sales growth for the first quarter of 12.5% and good like for like sales growth of 4.3%, driven by continued momentum in Premier Inn and Costa.
“Premier Inn grew its total sales by 14.3%, with a powerful combination of strong like for like sales growth of 6.3% and an 8.2% increase in rooms available. Total revpar grew by 6.1% and occupancy remained high at 80.6%. In London we saw pleasing sales growth of 21.6% driven by a 23.2% increase in rooms available, whilst maintaining high occupancy at 86.2%. In the regions we delivered another good performance growing total sales by 12.3%, with occupancy of 79.7%.
“Our Restaurants business grew like for like sales by 0.1%, slightly ahead of a soft pub restaurant market outside the M25.
“Costa had another excellent quarter with total sales growth of 17.2% and UK Retail like for like sales growth of 5.0% driven by winning more customers with like for like transaction growth of 4.4%. Costa’s international business continues to grow rapidly with a 15.1% growth in system sales (14.1% at constant currency).
“Our leading brands continue to win market share as we invest in our people, our customer experience and our infrastructure. We are on track to deliver our ambitious growth milestones. This year we plan to open around 5,500 new Premier Inn UK rooms and around 250 net new Costa stores worldwide.
“Our committed UK pipeline has grown to 13,339 rooms and construction is underway on 42 new hotel sites as well as 19 hotel extensions.”
Trading highlights for the 13 weeks
Hotels and Restaurants
Premier Inn has continued to win UK market share growing total sales for the 13 weeks by 14.3%, like for like sales by 6.3%, total revpar by 6.1% and total room nights sold by 8.1% to 4.3 million. Total occupancy at 80.6% was down (0.1%) pt and the number of rooms available increased by 8.2%.
In London Premier Inn grew total sales by 21.6%, with a 23.2% increase in rooms available and total occupancy up 0.1% pt at 86.2%. Total revpar was down (1.0%) compared to a decline in the total market revpar of (1.7%). The Midscale and Economy London competitive set grew total revpar by 3.1%.
In the regions the market continued to recover and Premier Inn grew total sales by 12.3% and total revpar by 6.4% with a 6.2% increase in rooms available. Occupancy was down (0.3%) pts at 79.7%. For the regional hotel market total revpar grew 6.9% and was up 9.7% for the Midscale and Economy sector.
Restaurants delivered total sales growth of 1.6% and like for like sales growth of 0.1% in the first quarter, slightly ahead of a soft pub restaurant market outside the M25.
333 UK rooms were opened in the quarter and, for the full year, we plan to open around 5,500 UK rooms.
Costa
Costa had a good start to the year, growing total system sales by 15.9% to £375.2 million,(15.7% at constant currency). Within this, franchise system sales grew by 13.5% to £143.6
UK Retail continued its strong momentum with equity stores delivering like for like sales growth of 5.0% driven by transaction growth of 4.4%. We opened 37 net new UK stores in the quarter.
Costa Enterprises continued its success with the installation of a further 171 Costa Express machines taking the total to 4,463.
International system sales grew by 15.1% to £80.6 million (14.1% at constant currency). Eight net new stores were opened in the period with five in EMEI and three in Asia. In May we acquired the Costa franchise business in Singapore, where we now have nine equity stores.
Costa plans to open around 250 net new stores and 700-800 net Costa Express machines in the full year.
Group
The Group strengthened its funding position by issuing a £450 million 3.375% bond due in 2025. This, together with our existing facilities and strong operating cash flow, will support the delivery of our 2020 milestones and reinforces the strong financial position of the Group. As announced at our Annual Results on 28 April our capital investment for this year is expected tobe around £700 million.
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