Whitbread to beat forecasts as sales rally

14th Dec 2009 07:21

Hotel, pub and coffee shop group Whitbread expects results for the current year to 'somewhat exceed the top end of market estimates' as Costa Coffee led a rally in sales in the third quarter.Revenues moved forward again in the three months to end November, with total sales up 6.7% and like for like sales rising by 0.3%. In the 39 weeks of the year to date, total sales are up 4.3% and like for like sales down 1.7%.Costa, which accounts for about 20% of revenues, had a particularly strong performance in the third quarter with like for like sales up 6.7%, more than double the increase in the first half.Sales in UK and overseas franchise units were £141.8m, up 28.2%. In the year to date, Costa has opened a net 154 stores in the UK and 22 internationally, Whitbread said.At budget hotel chain Premier Inn, the decline in like for like sales halved in the last three months to 3.1%.Whitbread Hotels and Restaurants, which includes Premier Inn and accounts for about 80% of revenues, sales fell by 1% in the quarter and are now down by 2.8% for the nine months so far in what Whitbread says were some of the toughest trading conditions for years.'The positive momentum in sales and our rigorous cost control lead us to expect that our 2009/10 results will somewhat exceed the top end of market estimates,' chief executive Alan Parker added.