Next week’s 2014 results from hospitality group Whitbread (WTB) follow a confident February trading update that prompted analysts to increase profit estimates for 2015 and beyond. The owner of high-street chain Costa Coffee and hotel group Premier Inn revealed a particularly strong final quarter, with overall like-for-like sales growth of 7 per cent.
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For the 50 weeks to 13 Feb - covering most of the financial year - like-for-like group sales rose 4 per cent. Costa delivered an impressive 6 per cent organic sales improvement on the previous year, while Premier Inn grew by 5 per cent. And the actual growth rates were considerably better - 13 per cent for the group - thanks to outlet openings.
