Pemier Inn sales boost Whitbread profits
Sales at Premier Inn were up more than 13% last year, boosting parent company Whitbread’s profits by 1%.
Whitbread, which also runs pub restaurants and the Costa Coffee chain, made a total pre-tax profit of £347 million in the year to February 27.
Group revenue rose 13%, with total sales at Premier Inn up 13.4% in the same period.
It opened 23 net new Premier Inn hotels in the period, giving it a total of 672 across the UK.
"I am confident that the brand strength of Premier Inn and Costa will continue to fuel the company’s growth into the future," said Whitbread chairman Anthony Habgood.
The firm said that trading in the first two months of the new financial year had also started positively.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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