Whitbread sees 18% rise in Premier Inn sales
Premier Inn UK has reported accommodation sales up 18% compared with the same period last year, according to its Q1 trading update for the 13 weeks to 1 June 2023.
According to Premier Inn hotel’s owner Whitbread, strong demand from both business and leisure guests across the regions and London boosted its sales.
Its revenue per available room also increased 16% ahead of FY23 and up 40% compared with FY20.
Additionally, its UK food and beverage (‘F&B’) sales were 10% ahead of FY23 which benefited from several commercial initiatives put in place during the second half of FY23.
The group opened 348 new rooms across the UK and Ireland and remains on course to open a total of 1,500-2,000 new rooms in FY24, most of which will open in the second half of the year.
Whitbread stated that despite trading at the value end of the pub restaurant remains “challenging”, the commercial initiatives it introduced in FY23 had a “positive impact”.
It also said that it is continuing to explore a variety of options to “optimise” its F&B offer.
Looking ahead, Whitbread remains “positive” about the full year outlook and £300m share buy-back is on-track with 3.1m shares purchased so far at a total cost of c.£103m.
Dominic Paul, chief executive, said: “In the UK, our market leading brand and value-led customer proposition is continuing to deliver impressive revenue growth and a healthy RevPAR premium versus the wider M&E market. The structural reduction in hotel supply, coupled with strong consumer demand, is highlighting the strengths of our differentiated business model, as evidenced by our continued strong performance. Our forward booked position into Q2 underpins our confidence in being able to deliver a strong first half result.
“Our business is in great shape and trading well. Given the lack of branded supply growth and permanent decline in the independent sector, I am confident that our business model will continue to deliver as we strengthen Premier Inn’s position in the UK, unlock our potential in Germany and maximise long-term returns for our shareholders.”
