Whitbread (WTB) looks to be enjoying the fruits of an improving economy after a noticeable pick-up in activity as the year has progressed. Driven by demand for Premier Inn rooms and Costa Coffee, the key like-for-like sales measure in the third quarter was 4.3 per cent, compared with the 3.3 per cent achieved earlier in the year.
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Costa looked particularly strong with sales in the 39-week period climbing by 19.4 per cent to £882m. Further evidence that UK consumer spending is picking up was evident in the fact that the UK portion of the Costa brand delivered like-for-like sales growth of 5.3 per cent to £473m. It wasn't all good news, though, as the restaurants division still looked weak in areas outside of London.
