Whitbread boosted by fourth quarter pick-up

29th Apr 2010 07:06

A fourth quarter pick-up in trading enabled underlying profits at hotel to coffee shop group Whitbread to come in near the top of market forecasts.Underlying profits before tax increased by 6.6% to £239.1m in the year to February, from £224m. Pre-tax profits rose to £208m from £198.6m. Underlying earnings per share (diluted) increasing by 6.7% to 96.7p. Group revenue grew year-on-year by 7.5% to £1.44bn, driven by growth in the number of hotels, restaurants and coffee shops. Like for like sales fell by 0.5% over the year, but Whitbread says the last three months saw an increase of 3.1% with all of its businesses seeing forward momentum.At Premier Inn, sales rose 4.7%, with like for like sales declining 4.3%. Sales at restaurants rose 1.3%, with like for like sales up 1.7%. At coffee chain Costa, sales increased by 23.4%, with like for like sales up 5.5%. "While the level of economic recovery remains unclear, the first seven weeks of the financial year have started well, with positive momentum across the business," Whitbread added.The annual dividend rises by 4% to 38p.