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Whitbread profits soar above pre-Covid amounts

Whitbread’s profit tops 2019 levels as Premier Inn owner’s customers return to hotel

  • Whitbread made a profit of £233.9m in the six months to 1st September
  • Hospitality companies’ food and beverage sales have not fully recovered
  • Besides the Premier Inn, the company owns the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre chains.

Whitbread’s profits have rebounded above pre-pandemic levels thanks to easing coronavirus restrictions that have revived stays at Premier Inn hotels.

The hospitality business posted a statutory profit of £233.9m in the six months to 1 September, compared with a loss of £172.2m in the same period three years ago and a loss of £37.8m last year. rice field.

UK Premier Inn sales doubled to £1.3bn, outperforming the overall midsize and economy accommodation market. This is because the sector has benefited from the lack of lockdown rules and the return of large numbers of foreign tourists.

Earnings: Whitbread posted a statutory profit of £233.9m in the six months to 1 September, compared with £172.2m three years ago

This growth was driven not only by a recovery in demand for leisure and business travel, but also by new facilities and higher average room rates, the latter up 40% year-on-year.

This strong demand continued into the third quarter, with hotel revenues more than a third above 2019 levels, but the company’s food and beverage sales have not fully recovered.

Whitbread has launched a series of initiatives to attract customers, including offering more drinks and upgrading its gardens, but restaurant sales will surpass pre-corona numbers during this fiscal year. I predict that it will not.

The deal update comes at a time of great uncertainty across the hospitality industry. The hospitality industry is slowly being impacted by rising energy prices and pressure on consumer incomes.

The FTSE 100 company, which also owns the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurant chains, warned that inflationary pressures and the traditional decline in seasonal hotel demand will drive margins down in the near term.

Rising labor costs, utility costs, food and beverage prices and investments in IT and marketing will cost the group another £60m this year.

Resurgence: Hotel sales growth was driven not only by a recovery in demand for leisure and business travel, but also by new facilities and higher average room rates

Resurgence: Hotel sales growth was driven not only by a recovery in demand for leisure and business travel, but also by new facilities and higher average room rates

Still, after failing to pay an interim dividend last year when much of the world was still under troubling Covid-19 restrictions, strong results have allowed the company to announce a dividend payout of £49m.

Looking further ahead, the business plans to open another 1,500-2,000 rooms in the UK and 2,000-2,500 rooms in Germany before the start of March.

Whitbread CEO Alison Britten said:

“With a strong balance sheet and significant growth potential in the UK and Germany, we are confident in our full-year outlook and our ability to deliver long-term value to all our stakeholders.”

Britten will leave the company at the end of February to become the Premier League’s first female president, succeeding interim chairman Peter McCormick.

McCormick’s predecessor, Gary Hoffman, lasted only 18 months in the position. His tenure was marked by major controversy over his sale of Newcastle United Football Club to the Sovereign of Saudi Arabia He Wealth, his investment fund Public.

Just before Britain was announced as the next Premier League chairman, she faced a major shareholder uprising over her £2.16m annual compensation package, and Whitbread lost £15.8m.

whitbread strain It also remained about 31% below what it was worth when she took over. They closed at her £26.22 on Tuesday, up 0.4%.

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