Premier Inn and Costa drive up sales for Whitbread

In the 50 weeks to 13 February 2014, Whitbread achieved total sales growth of 13.2 per cent, and like-for-like sales growth of four per cent.

The company said it was “on track to deliver full year results towards the top end of current expectations”.

Costa growth​

Costa sales were up 19.2 per cent year-on-year to £1,151.8m over the 50 week period, with franchise sales soaring 16.8 per cent to £447.6m.

In the UK, Costa retail system sales grew by 17.6 per cent to £622.9m, while equity store like-for-like sales increased by 5.8 per cent.

“Costa had an excellent fourth quarter with total sales growth of 18.2 per cent, driven by 312 net new store openings in the year and 7.3 per cent UK like-for-like sales growth,” said Whitbread chief executive Andy Harrison.

“Our Christmas campaign was well received, with like-for-like store transactions up 6.1 per cent in the quarter.”

Premier Inn​

Premier Inn continues to win market share, with total sales for the 50 week period up 13.3 per cent and like-for-like sales up 4.7 per cent.

The hotel chain saw a 5.1 per cent increase in RevPAR, with total rooms nights sold up by 9.7 per cent to 14.3m. Occupancy was 78 per cent, a small year-on-year increase.

London was the strongest market in terms of sales, with 17 per cent growth over the 50 week period on the back of increased room availability. However, the regions also saw sales rise by 14.3 per cent, with RevPAR growing faster than London.


“We grew total RevPAR in London and the UK Regions by seven per cent and 9.6 per cent respectively,” said Harrison.

“We continue to invest in our product quality and the Premier Inn brand with the launch of "our best ever bed" campaign,” said Harrison.

“This is a central pillar of our enhanced refurbishment programme.”

Restaurant performance​

Sales at Whitbread restaurants shot up in the fourth quarter after a sluggish year, with like-for-like sales up 4.4 per cent and covers up 3.7 per cent in the eleven weeks to 13 February.

The company attributed this to the “favourable weather” this winter compared to 2013.

“The performance of Whitbread Restaurants continued to improve and benefitted from the absence of snow with like for like sales growth of 4.4 per cent in the quarter,” said Harrison.

“We welcomed some 92,000 guests to our restaurants on Christmas Day with sales up 5.8 per cent.

Whitbread plans to open 4,500 new hotel rooms in 2014/15 and said it remains on target to hit its target of owning 10,500 hotel rooms in the UK.