Whitbread has reported a 6.6% increase in like-for-like sales for the 24 weeks to 16 August, driven by strong performances from Premier Inn and Costa Coffee.
Total sales for the group increased by 11.9% during the period.
Costa reported a 23.5% increase in total sales over the period driven by a 7.2% rise in like-for-like sales and new store openings.
The company opened 76 new UK Costa stores in the year to date, of which 27 were franchised. The 600th UK Costa opened in Wimbledon earlier this month.
Internationally, 52 new Costas were opened in the year to date, taking the company’s total to 217 outlets overseas.
Total sales at Premier Inn climbed 14.5% on the back of an 11% rise in like-for-like sales and a 1.3 percentage points increase in occupancy for the 24 weeks to 82.1%.
The company said that its UK expansion of Premier Inn was in line with its plans, with 40% of additional rooms being built on Whitbread owned sites.
It also announced the appointments of Aly Shariff and Reas Kondraschow as managing director and group development director respectively, of its Premier Inn joint venture in India.
Total sales across Whitbread’s pub restaurant estate increased 3.5% helped by a 2% rise in like-for-like sales.
The company said that it had seen an improvement in margins across its pub restaurants as a result of the ongoing improvement in operating performance and a reduction in discounts.
The group said that in the year to date it had remodelled 41 Brewers Fayres and added four new pub restaurants on joint sites with Premier Inns.
Alan Parker, chief executive, said: “The positive trend in trading over the last year has continued. This reflects the string brand propositions in our refocused group, investment in our businesses and the concentration on operating performance.”
The company said that it was continuing with its plan to use the proceeds from the £925m sale of David Lloyd Leisure to London & Regional to pay off debt.
It said its plans to issue bonds secured on its hotel and restaurant assets were well advanced. However, it had delayed proceeding further with its proposals to return cash due to the turbulent credit market.
The group also announced a share buyback programme for up to 10% of its issued share capital, equating to just over £300m, which will be funded from existing facilities.
The company was expected to announce the return of up to £900m to shareholders.
