Premier Inn owner Whitbread PLC (LSE:WTB) reports on its peak holiday period tomorrow, with analysts hailing recent performance improvements but saying the market remains unhelpful.
Investors last heard from Premier Inn owner back in June after the UK hotel chain's performance improved from the end of its last financial year, but still remained down on the year before.
Half-year results on Wednesday, 16 October, are expected to show a continuation of that trend.
Revenue per available room (revPAR) in the UK was down 1.6% in the first quarter, reflecting both lower occupancy and room rates.
Analysts at Barclays estimate that the second quarter averaged a decline of 1% in this like-for-like measure.
Performance in Germany was stronger in the first quarter, with accommodation sales up 15% or 6% on a revPAR basis.
The second quarter in Germany was estimated by Barclays to average 12.7%.
Recently, Goldman Sachs said that while Whitbread is a business with "the appropriate strategy to take advantage of structural opportunities and a strong management team", it warned clients that the "soft" wider UK industry revPAR trends could weigh on the short-term outlook.
What's more, there might have been some impact from the recent bad press for the company's advertising campaign, where complaints were made about misleading marketing about prices, leading to a slapped wrist from the Advertising Standards Authority.
Whitbread has been on a restructuring drive, looking to cut costs and refocus the business on hotels with integrated restaurants.
"Customers in the UK have seemed to be baulking at the higher prices which drove record levels of profits last year," said analysts at Hargreaves Lansdown.
They added that investors will "want to see more progress" on the restructuring.
Since falling to a 15-month low in August, Whitbread's shares are up around 15%.