Whitbread Q1 24 – 22/06 – Premier Inn owner Whitbread has seen some notable gains this year, it's been one of the best performers on the FTSE100 year to date. When the company reported its full year results back in April the shares popped higher and have continued to go from strength to strength rising to 18-month highs earlier this month. Full-year revenues came in at £2.62bn, a 27% increase on 2020. Statutory profits after tax also saw a solid increase, rising to £279m, a 28% rise on 2020 levels, with the UK business outperforming.
The Premier Inn business saw revenue per room increase by 27% from 2020 levels, along with a rise in revenues to £2.5bn, despite occupancy rates in the low 80%.
The German business has continued to underperform with an occupancy rate of 59.4% and is still operating at a loss, despite a sizeable increase in revenues. On the outlook, Whitbread said that UK sales at Premier Inn were 17% higher than the same period last year.
On the inflation outlook management said they expect 7-8% in 2024, expressing confidence that higher sales and cost efficiencies would offset this. A final dividend of 49.8p was announced as well as a £300m share buyback to be completed in H1 of 2024.
