Whitbread hotels do well, restaurants disappoint

Dec 19, 05 | 8:54 am

(Reuters) - Leisure group Whitbread Plc said on Thursday it was disappointed by the performance of its pub restaurants, but its Costa coffee shop chain and Premier Travel Inn hotels were performing well.

Like-for-like sales at Premier Travel Inn rose 7.3 percent in the 39 weeks to December 1, while pub restaurant like-for-like sales fell 2.1 percent and high-street restaurants fell 3.4 percent.

"TGI Friday's and Pizza Hut continue to find trading conditions difficult on the high street," it said in a statement.

"Year to date occupancy levels now stand at 81.9 percent, having recovered well following a weaker July and August," it said of Premier Travel Inn.

Whitbread reported a 3 percent increase in underlying total sales in the first 39 weeks of the year, but total like-for-like sales were down by 0.5 percent.

It said it was encouraged by the reaction to new menus and prices at its pub restaurants, such as Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, but added, "Reversing the trends in volume decline will take time."

Whitbread is in the process of disposing of around 1.3 billion pounds ($2.3 billion) of assets including its UK Marriott hotels, its Chiswell Street brewery site in London and its stake in the Britvic soft drinks group.

It has returned 400 million pounds to shareholders and has scheduled another 400 million pounds for return.

Britvic was floated last week, and Whitbread said the rest of the restructuring remained on track.

Whitbread shares closed at 943 pence on Wednesday, valuing the group at around 2.4 billion pounds.