Tuesday preview: Whitbread reports first half interims

24th Oct 2016 14:21

(ShareCast News) - Whitbread is on Tuesday expected to report an increase in first half earnings on the back of growth at its Costa coffee and Premier Inn hotel chains.The company in June reported a 1.8% rise in first quarter total like-for-like (LFL) sales, including a 2.1% gain in Premier Inn LFL sales and 2.6% rise in Costa LFL sales.Premier Inn's hotel expansion offset a weaker-than-expected sector, although revenue per available (RevPar) room fell 1.2% in total or 0.5% on a LFL basis."In the first half we expect flat RevPAR and Costa LFL sales growth of 2% giving earnings per share growth of 3%," Numis analyst Tim Barrett said."This implies earnings before interest and tax margins contract by 50 basis points to 20.5%, consistent with management announced investment programme."Numis has forecast pre-tax profit of £300.5m in the first half, compared to £291.3m in the same period a year earlier.For the full year, the broker anticipates EPS growth of 4% on the back of an expected 1.1% RevPar growth and 5,000 room openings at Premier Inn along with a 2% rise in Costa LFL sales and 280 additional stores. Tuesday 25 October INTERIMS Axis Bank Ltd GDR (Reg S) INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Flowtech Fluidpower, Lighthouse Group, Pendragon, Playtech, Smith & Nephew INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Consumer Confidence (EU) (15:00) House Price Index (US) (14:00) IFO Business Climate (GER) (09:00) IFO Current Assessment (GER) (09:00) IFO Expectations (GER) (09:00) Import Price Index (GER) (07:00) Q2 Axis Bank Ltd GDR (Reg S) Q3 BP, Norsk Hydro ASA EGMS Nimrod Sea Assets Limited AGMS Aberforth Geared Income Trust, Mattioli Woods UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS BBA Mortgage Lending Figures (09:30) Nationwide House Price Index (07:00)