Costa coffee lifts Whitbread sales

The UK's largest hotel and restaurant group Whitbread has reported rise in total like-for-like sales of seven per cent for the 13 weeks to 29 May.

Premier Inn led the way by growing market share and increasing like-for-like sales 9.5 per cent. A strong London market was a major contributor to rising sales.

The company opened 208 UK rooms over the quarter and plans to open 4,500 rooms for the full year. Meanwhile, restaurants continued to play their part, benefitting from favourable weather, with like-for-like sales climbing 4.4 per cent.

Costa like-for-like sales enjoyed a steady increase of 4.5 per cent, with worldwide system sales growing by 14.6 per cent to £323m. Whitbread is planning to open new 300 net new stores and 600 Costa express units in the full year.

Andy Harrison, chief executive of Whitbread commented:

Whitbread is well positioned for another good year with our strong brands continuing to win market share, reinforced by ambitious organic network expansion.