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The Markets
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Proactive UK has moved.
Coverage of London’s small caps continues on proactiveinvestors.com
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The Markets
by Proactive
Proactive UK has moved.
Small-cap coverage continues on .com
Go to Proactive UK
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The Markets
by Proactive
Proactive UK has moved.
Small-cap coverage continues on .com
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Leisure, gaming and gambling

Whitbread serves up higher sales but shares drop

Whitbread said total sales had increased 11.1% and like-for-like sales rose 3.6%

Premier Inn and Costa Coffee owner Whitbread (LON:WTB) revealed higher sales, but its shares fell as the update failed to impress the market.

Whitbread said Total sales had increased 11.1% and like-for-like sales had risen 3.6% between early March and November 26.

The group, which also owns pub restaurant chains such as Beefeater and Brewers Fayre, said Premier Inn's Total sales rose 10.8%, with a combination of 4.7% like-for-like sales growth and a 7.4% increase in rooms available.

Total revenue per available room (revpar) was up 3.6% with occupancy remaining high at 84.5%.

Restaurants' like-for-like sales growth was 1.7%. Costa increased Total sales by 13.8% while like-for-like sales lifted 2.5% in a quarter that included a soft November.

New chief executive Alison Brittain said its full-year results should be in line with market expectations.

"Whitbread has had another good quarter," she said.

Despite that, shares fell 70p, or 1.6%, to 4409p.

Shore Capital said Premier Inn had a good quarter although Costa was a little softer. It added that the update was broadly consistent with its current pre-tax profit forecast of £556mln and expectations for the next two years.

Analyst Greg Johnson added: "With wider concerns over the long-term growth opportunities and the valuation in line with peer analysis on a break-up basis, we retain our 'hold' stance."

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