Whitbread claims more market share
Whitbread has claimed its pub restaurant brands - Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Table Table and Taybarns - have continued to claim market share during its second quarter.
Chief executive Alan Parker said Taybarns sales were slightly down a year after the opening of the seventh site but still 80% up on sales performance of the sites when they were Brewer's Fayres.
A decision on further openings wil be made in the "next few weeks,' he said.
Total sales across the 490-plus pub restaurants are up 6.9% and like-for-like sales up 2.1%.
The company's focus on value-for-money menus across all the restaurant brands and "well-maintained properties" have attracted 7.2% more customers across the total estate.
Parker said: "Whitbread has strong brands offering great value for money and we will continue to focus on what our customers want in today's price conscious environment.
"We are delivering on our priorities to outperform our competition, to achieve cash flow neutrality and to reduce operating costs."
At Premier Inn, against tough comparatives, like for like sales in the 24 weeks were down (7.7%) which is an improvement on the performance reported in the first quarter. Revenue per available room at (9.4%) lower, has improved from the first quarter run rate.
Parker said: "We are enhancing weekend occupancy with our Premier Offers campaign targeting the leisure market."
Costa saw total sales growing 18.4% and like for like sales up 2.7%.
Parker added: "We have yet to see any substantive signs of improvement in the economic environment.
"There are a number of specific factors that are contributing to our performance. Costa's trading has been well ahead of expectations and we are seeing the benefits of our value offers in pub restaurants and our focus on cost control.
"Furthermore, we face softer Premier Inn comparatives in the second half. In the absence of any deterioration in trading, we expect the outturn for the full year to be at least at the higher end of current market expectations."
