Premier Inn owner Whitbread launches another £300m share buyback as revenues soar
Premier Inn owner Whitbread has announced plans to complete a new £300m share buy back scheme as it budget hotel business continues to rack in heft profits.
The no frills hotel chain just completed an identical buy back at the start of October, but said it is in strong shape to launch a second consecutive scheme to be completed at the end of its 2024 full year results.
It comes as the company revealed its earnings for the first half of the year with adjusted profit before tax up 44 per cent year-on-year to £391m, as demand for hotel stays continues to heat up.
In the UK, Premier Inn UK: total UK accommodation sales were 15 per cent ahead of last year figures and 55 per cent above pre-pandemic levels.
The company, which has 800 hotels in the U, said that it is now looking to help with its long term goal of 125,000 rooms across the UK and Ireland.
Statutory revenues also leaped 17 per cent year-on-year to £1.5bn as the company improved its pricing strategy amid a period of high inflation.
Dominic Paul, Whitbread, chief executive, said: “This is an impressive first half performance. In the UK, we maintained high levels of occupancy whilst continuing to attract excellent guest scores and offering great value for our customers.
“The strengths of our operating model and our continued focus on driving cost efficiencies across the business resulted in UK margins exceeding pre-pandemic levels.
“ In Germany, we are making good progress and are continuing to refine our strategy based on our learnings to-date and whilst there is much work to do as we continue to grow, we remain on course to achieve our long-term ambition of 10-14 per cent return on capital.