Premier Inn owner Whitbread returns to pre-pandemic performance
Bosses said on Tuesday that pre-tax profit had risen from £58 million in the year to the start of March 2022, to £375 million the following year.
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Your support makes all the difference.Premier Inn owner Whitbread has managed to return to pre-pandemic profit and revenue for the first time in the last financial year, the business has revealed.
Bosses said on Tuesday that pre-tax profit had risen from £58 million in the year to the start of March 2022, to £375 million the following year. It was even 34% ahead of the year ending February 2020.
Meanwhile, revenue rose by 54% to £2.6 billion.
It was a big boost for the hotel company, driven by the performance of Premier Inn in the UK, which saw its adjusted profit jump by more than 500%.
There’s plenty of cheer in Whitbread’s results today. Revenue growth of over 50% has seen Whitbread surpass pre-pandemic levels at both the top and bottom line
The results, and the promise of a £300 million share buyback, helped propel Whitbread to the top of the FTSE 100 on Tuesday, giving shares a more than 6% boost.
Sales in the UK accommodation business jumped 55% compared with last year and were even up 37% compared with pre-Covid times.
It comes as the business continues to open new rooms. It expects to open between 1,500 and 2,000 rooms in the UK this financial year and 1,000 to 1,500 in Germany.
“These are a fantastic set of results,” said chief executive Dominic Paul.
“Whilst the recovery in market demand in conjunction with a structural decline in the independent sector has provided a helpful backdrop, it is the combination of our own initiatives and our clearly differentiated business model that has sustained our brand strength and delivered such an impressive operational and financial performance,” said chief executive Dominic Paul.
The business said it expects inflation to run between 7-8% this financial year, but is confident it will be able to offset this by growing sales, adding new rooms and keeping costs under control.
Derren Nathan, head of equity research at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “There’s plenty of cheer in Whitbread’s results today. Revenue growth of over 50% has seen Whitbread surpass pre-pandemic levels at both the top and bottom line.
“Its strong brand in UK midscale hotels sees it consistently outperform the wider market and hoover up market share, while still maintaining price discipline.”