Whitbread, the Premier Inn owner, has held on to its buy rating and price target at Jefferies even though the US bank notes that industry hotel data in April for Economy and Midscale was disappointing.
Easter should have provided a tailwind to growth but UK RevPAR [revenue per room] declined 4.1% year-on-year, driven by pricing and against the toughest comparisons vs 2019.
“We await the May data point to confirm whether the decline is due to segment weakness or external factors, such as weather,” said the broker.
“Germany grew modestly, at +1.9%, which supports the path to profitability.”
Buy with a price target at £42.00.