Whitbread has been boosted by claiming back £5m worth of VAT paid on gaming machines at its pub restaurants.
The money has been claimed back from HM Revenue & Customs after a High Court judge ruled in a separate case last year that charging VAT on some machines — including category C AWP machines used in pubs — and not others, broke EU competition law.
"As HM Revenue and Customs have appealed against this ruling there is a contingent liability for the amount of the refund plus interest," said chief executive Alan Parker.
Revenues at the company's restaurants — which include Beefeater, Brewer's Fayre, Table Table and Taybarns — grew by 4.5% for the six months to 2 September to £247.3m. Like-for-like sales for its restaurants improved by 4.2% driven by an increase in total covers of 7% and like-for-like covers of 6.4%.
Value for money
"Our restaurants continued to outperform the market throughout the first half as we attracted more customers looking for great value food and drink in a comfortable environment," said Parker, who will be succeeded by Andy Harrison in November.
"They achieved further consistent positive like for like sales growth which is a commendable performance compared to the experience of previous World Cups.
"Increased occupancy in our hotels also had a positive impact on restaurant sales, enhanced by our well received and successful £20 meal deal offer for Premier Inn guests."
Cost conscious
He added: "Cost conscious customers know that they can always find a great value meal deal made with high quality ingredients such as two meals for £10 at Brewers Fayre."
Group revenue, including its Premier Inn hotels and Costa coffee chain, increased by 14.5% year-on-year to £805.4m including the exceptional revenue of £5m arising from the VAT refund. Underlying profit before tax and exceptional items rose 28.4% to £151.8m.