With the vast majority of its hotels and restaurants closed from the end of March, Premier Inn owner Whitbread (WTB) saw revenue in the 13 weeks to 28 May collapse by 79 per cent. In percentage terms, the decline was virtually identical across its ‘accommodation’ and ‘food and beverage’ segments. Just 39 of the group’s hotels remained open during the height of the Covid-19 crisis to provide accommodation for key workers.
Now, all of Whitbread’s German hotels are back up and running, including 13 new sites that were refurbished and rebranded under the Premier Inn banner during lockdown. In the UK, 270 hotels and 24 restaurants have reopened, and the rest of the estate is expected to resume activity throughout July. This is ahead of its previous assumption that its UK hotels would remain closed until September.
While it is still early days, the group says it is seeing good summer demand in traditional, regional tourist destinations in the UK. But bookings from other regions and metropolitan areas such as London remain subdued.
Having secured £1bn from a heavily discounted rights issue in June, Whitbread says it should now be able to withstand a prolonged period of depressed sales. It is also looking to increase its market share, believing that this crisis could throw up attractive acquisitions opportunities in both the UK and Germany.
