REG - Whitbread PLC - 3rd Quarter Results

WhitbreadAnnouncement

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RNS Number : 5939O  Whitbread PLC  13 January 2026

Continued strong trading momentum with positive RevPAR growth in the UK and
Germany

Good progress on key strategic initiatives; increased FY26 cost efficiencies

 

Throughout this release percentage growth comparisons are comparing Q3 FY26
performance for the 13 weeks to 27 November 2025 to the same period in FY25,
unless stated otherwise.

 

Comment from Dominic Paul, Whitbread Chief Executive:

 

"We delivered a strong performance in the third quarter, with positive
momentum across the business. We remain highly disciplined regarding our
strategic actions and by focusing on what we can control, we have continued to
make great progress against our key initiatives and will deliver a higher
level of efficiencies in FY26 than previously expected.

 

"In the UK, the overall market continued its return to growth and we delivered
a positive RevPAR performance, which has continued and stepped up in the
current trading period. The structural shift in supply, together with our
brand strength and commercial programme, means we are confident in our ability
to maintain a healthy RevPAR premium versus the market.

 

"In Germany, demand has increased and we outperformed the wider market in what
is an important trading period with a number of key events. We remain
confident in reaching profitability this year, which is a key milestone as we
progress towards fulfilling our ambition of becoming the country's number one
hotel brand.

 

"Looking forward, we now expect the cost impact from the proposed changes in
business rates included in the recent UK Budget to be c.£35m in FY27, which
is lower than our preliminary estimate of £40m - £50m. We continue to
believe the proposed changes to business rates are damaging for the overall
sector and will impact future investment and job creation and we, along with
the wider hospitality industry, continue to press the UK Government for
changes.

 

"Our vertically integrated model means we are well-positioned to adapt to
shifts in the trading and fiscal environment and can continue to deliver
sustainable and long-term value for shareholders. As previously announced, in
response to the recent UK Budget, we are exploring a variety of options in
order to further drive profits, margins and returns and will provide an update
to the market regarding our Five-Year Plan at the time of our FY26 Preliminary
Results on 30 April 2026."

 
 

 

Overview

 •            Q3 performance: Total Group sales were up 2% to £781m, with positive total
              accommodation sales performance in both Premier Inn UK and Premier Inn
              Germany, partially offset by the expected reduction in UK food and beverage
              ('F&B') sales as a result of our Accelerating Growth Plan ('AGP) to
              transform some of our lower returning branded restaurants into higher
              returning hotel extensions
 •            Premier Inn UK:

              o  Positive market demand continued into the third quarter and total
              accommodation sales were up 2%; RevPAR was up 3% and we maintained a healthy
              RevPAR premium of £5.63 versus the midscale and economy ('M&E') market(1)

              o  F&B sales performed in line with our expectations reflecting the
              impact of our Accelerating Growth Plan
 •            Premier Inn Germany:

              o  Total accommodation sales were up 12% in local currency (16% in GBP),
              driven by the increasing maturity of our estate and our commercial initiatives

              o  Total estate RevPAR was up 7% to €76 and RevPAR of our more established
              hotels was up 9% to €86, significantly outperforming the wider M&E
              market(2)
 •            Current trading: for the six weeks to 8 January 2026, total UK accommodation
              sales and RevPAR were both up 4%; total Germany accommodation sales were up
              11%, with total Germany estate RevPAR up 5% to €56
 •            Increased FY26 cost efficiencies: we now expect to deliver greater cost
              efficiencies of £75m - £80m in FY26 across labour, technology and
              procurement, up from £65m - £70m previously
 •            Accelerating Growth Plan: we are making great progress with c.90% of planning
              applications submitted, c.65% planning applications approved and have
              completed or are on-site at c.35% of sites
 •            Disciplined capital allocation: we have completed the sale and leaseback of a
              further nine hotels for a total consideration of £89m at attractive yields,
              and remain on track to recycle £250m - £300m of property proceeds into
              high-returning growth opportunities, including AGP, that will drive profits,
              margins and returns
 •            Shareholder returns: we expect to complete our previously announced £250m
              share buy-back by 30 April 2026, with 7.7m shares purchased so far for a total
              consideration of approximately £217m(3)

 

 

Q3 FY26 Summary

 

                              Q3                       Q3 YTD
                              UK    Germany(4)  Total  UK    Germany(4)  Total
 Sales growth:
    Accommodation             2%    16%         4%     1%    10%         1%
    Food & beverage           (4)%  21%         (3)%   (9)%  20%         (8)%
    Total                     1%    17%         2%     (1)%  12%         0%
 Like-for-like sales growth:
    Accommodation             2%    11%         3%     0%    6%          0%
    Food & beverage           (1)%  11%         0%     (1)%  13%         0%
    Total                     2%    11%         3%     0%    7%          1%

1: STR data, standard basis, 29 August 2025 to 27 November 2025, UK M&E
market excludes Premier Inn

2: STR data, standard basis, 29 August 2025 to 27 November 2025, Germany
M&E market excludes Premier Inn

3: As at 9 January 2026

4: Germany sales growth in GBP

 

FY26 current trading(5) and guidance

 •            UK total accommodation sales and RevPAR were both up 4%, outperforming the
              M&E market(6) on RevPAR growth by +2pp
 •            UK F&B sales continue to perform in line with our expectations and
              previous guidance
 •            Germany total accommodation sales were up 11% and RevPAR was up 5% to €56 in
              local currency
 •            There are no changes to our previously announced FY26 guidance other than
              increased cost efficiencies of £75m - £80m, (previously £65m - £70m)
              across labour, technology and procurement
 •            We remain confident in the full year outlook

 

5: Percentage growth comparisons are comparing performance for the 6 weeks to
8 January 2026 to the same period in FY25

6: STR data, standard basis, 28 November 2025 to 1 January 2026, UK M&E
market excludes Premier Inn

 

Updates to FY27 guidance and outlook

 •            Further to our previous statement which outlined our preliminary estimates
              regarding the impact of the changes announced as part of the recent UK Budget,
              whilst there has been no change to our underlying inflation assumptions, we
              now expect:
              •     Gross UK cost inflation to be between 6.5% and 7.5% on our £1.7bn
              UK cost base; this includes the changes to business rates that will result in
              an impact of c.£35m (versus our preliminary estimate of £40m - £50m)
              •     Net UK cost inflation to be between 3% and 4%, after accelerated
              efficiencies of £60m
 •            In the UK, our high quality and great value guest proposition means we remain
              confident in our ability to deliver a healthy RevPAR premium versus the market
              and in Germany, with our increasing maturity and commercial initiatives, we
              are confident that we can continue to outperform the market

Five-Year Plan update

As previously announced, in response to the recent UK Budget, we are exploring
a variety of options in order to further drive profits, margins and returns
and will provide an update to the market regarding our Five-Year Plan at the
time of our FY26 Preliminary Results on 30 April 2026.

 

For more information please contact:

 Investor Relations - Whitbread                  investorrelations@whitbread.com (mailto:investorrelations@whitbread.com)
 Peter Reynolds, Director of Investor Relations  peter.reynolds@whitbread.com
 Kirsten O'Reilly, Investor Relations Manager    kirsten.oreilly@whitbread.com (mailto:kirsten.oreilly@whitbread.com)
 Kitty Hobhouse, Investor Relations Manager      kitty.hobhouse@whitbread.com (mailto:kitty.hobhouse@whitbread.com)

 Media - Brunswick                               whitbread@brunswickgroup.com
 Tim Danaher                                     +44 (0) 20 7404 5959

 

A live Q&A teleconference for investors and analysts will be held at
9:15am GMT on 13 January 2026. Details to join are noted below. An on-demand
version of this will be made available on the website
(www.whitbread.com/investors/results-reports-and-presentations
(http://www.whitbread.com/investors/results-reports-and-presentations) )
shortly after.

 

Q&A teleconference participant dial-in numbers:

Start time - 9:15am GMT

United Kingdom (Local): 020 3936 2999

Participant Access Code: 344263

( )

 

Appendix

 

1)   Premier Inn UK key performance indicators

 

                                                 Q1      Q2       Q3       Q3 %(1)  YTD
 London
 Occupancy (full inventory)                      76.6%   82.7%    84.0%    0.8pp    81.1%
 Average room rate (£)                           105.88  120.87   119.11   5.9%     115.54
 Revenue per available room (£)                  81.07   99.99    100.01   7.0%     93.69
 Total accommodation sales (£m)                  117.2   144.5    144.5    7.9%     406.2

 Regions
 Occupancy (full inventory)                      79.1%   83.1%    82.2%    (1.7)pp  81.5%
 Average room rate (£)                           72.92   86.30    76.64    3.0%     78.72
 Revenue per available room (£)                  57.68   71.76    63.00    0.9%     64.14
 Total accommodation sales (£m)                  367.8   455.8    400.2    0.4%     1,223.9

 Total
 Occupancy (full inventory)                      78.6%   83.1%    82.5%    (1.2)pp  81.4%
 Average room rate (£)                           78.85   92.68    84.65    4.1%     85.51
 Revenue per available room (£)                  62.00   76.99    69.86    2.5%     69.61
 Total accommodation sales (£m)                  485.0   600.3    544.8    2.3%     1,630.1

 Total accommodation sales vs M&E market(2)      +1.6pp  (0.1)pp  (1.4)pp  -        0.0pp
 RevPAR growth vs M&E market(2)                  +1.5pp  +0.4pp   (0.2)pp  -        +0.5pp
 RevPAR premium vs M&E market(2)                 £5.69   £6.17    £5.63    -        £5.80

 F&B and Other
 Total food and beverage sales (£m)              155.2   158.9    147.7    (4.5)%   461.7
 Total other sales (£m)                          8.1     8.7      9.3      20.5%    26.1

 Total UK sales (£m)                             648.2   767.9    701.8    1.0%     2,117.9

 

 

2)   Premier Inn Germany key performance indicators

 

                                      Q1     Q2     Q3     Q3 %(1)  YTD
 Occupancy (full inventory)           67.4%  70.0%  76.5%  3.0pp    71.3%
 Average room rate (£)                79.49  74.64  86.70  7.0%     80.51
 Revenue per available room (£)       53.58  52.23  66.35  11.3%    57.43
 Total accommodation sales (£m)       53.4   52.6   67.5   16.4%    173.5
 Total food and beverage sales (£m)   9.2    9.6    11.5   21.0%    30.3
 Total Germany sales (£m)             62.7   62.2   79.0   17.0%    203.8

 

 

 

                                       Q1     Q2     Q3     Q3 %(1)  YTD
 Occupancy (full inventory)            67.4%  70.0%  76.5%  3.0pp    71.3%
 Average room rate (€)                 94.11  86.84  99.36  2.5%     93.63
 Revenue per available room (€)        63.43  60.77  76.04  6.7%     66.79
 Total accommodation sales (€m)        63.3   61.2   77.3   11.6%    201.8
 Total food and beverage sales (€m)    10.9   11.1   13.2   16.0%    35.2
 Total Germany sales (€m)              74.2   72.3   90.5   12.2%    237.0

 

Notes:

1: Growth versus Q3 FY25

2: STR data, standard basis, 28 February 2025 to 27 November 2025, M&E
market excludes Premier Inn

 

 

 

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