Whitbread sees room for expansion

An advertising campaign fronted by comedian Lenny Henry and a 29 a room offer helped lift like-for-like sales at the hotel chain in the first half of Whitbread's financial year by 10.1 per cent.

The group, which also owns Costa Coffee and restaurants including Brewers Fayre, said it was now positioned to increase the rate of new hotel openings, and plans to open at least 1,700 rooms in 18 hotels across the UK before March.

Whitbread posted pre-tax profits of 151m in the six months to September 2, on total revenues of 805m, a 14.5 per cent increase on last year.

Delivering his last set of results before easyJet boss Andy Harrison steps in, chief executive Alan Parker said: "Whitbread has performed strongly in both good times and during the recession and is well placed to grow in the current environment.

"While the economic outlook remains uncertain we are confident in the outturn for the year."

Premier Inn, which generates around a third of Whitbread's profits, saw revenues increase 14 per cent to 355.7m in the first half.

The hotel chain was boosted by corporate demand as business account revenues increased 24 per cent to 103m, while it also saw reservations via its website increase to 58 per cent of total bookings.

Whitbread said it also plans to expand its Costa chain, which is currently the second largest coffee shop operator in the world.

More than 130 new stores are planned in the UK and overseas in the next six months, bringing the total by the end of the financial year to 1,850 stores, with some 1,200 in the UK.

The coffee chain delivered a 27.7 per cent increase in revenues to 311.2m in the first half, boosted by a new breakfast food range and the Costa Coffee Club loyalty card programme.

Whitbread said its restaurant division had outperformed the market despite the World Cup steering customers away from restaurants.

Restaurant revenues were up 4.5 per cent to 247.3m in the first half, with like-for-like sales up 4.2 per cent, driven by offers such as its two meals for 10 deal at Brewers Fayre.