Whitbread soars on bullish update

7th Sep 2009 07:03

Shares in leisure group Whitbread leapt more than 15% and it forecast profits this year would be at the higher end of forecasts.The hotel, pubs and coffee chain group also announced the appointment of former Boots' chief executive Richard Baker to the board as a non-executive director.Whitbread added that rate of decline at hotel chain Premier Inns steadied in the three months to 13 August, while coffee chain Costa continued to push ahead.Overall, sales rose by 2.4%, but Whitbread said the like-for like sales, down by 2.6%, were hit by tough comparatives this time last year.Premier Inns' like for like sales in the 24 weeks were down 7.7%, slightly better than the previous three months. Revenue per available room at (9.4%) has improved from the first quarter run rate, it added. Pub restaurants - Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Table Table and Taybarns - lifted total sales by 6.9% and like for like sales by 2.1%, while coffee chain Costa recorded total sales up by 18.4% and like-for like sales up 2.7%. 'We have yet to see any substantive signs of improvement in the economic environment,' chief executive Alan Parker said, but he added that Costa's trading had been well ahead of expectations and 'It is seeing the benefits of our value offers in pub restaurants and our focus on cost control'. 'Furthermore, we face softer Premier Inn comparatives in the second half. In the absence of any deterioration in trading, we expect the outturn for the full year to be at least at the higher end of current market expectations,' he added.The range of forecasts before today's announcement was £180m to £196m before one-offs.