UK restaurant chain Whitbread said it plans to boost its Costa coffee shop and hotel business in the next five years as it reported record profit before tax of £ 210.3mln (EUR 266.4mln) in 2007, up 26.3% on 2006's figure. Whitbread CEO Alan Parker said the company would increase the capacity of its Premier Inn hotel chain by 50% to 55,000 rooms and double the Costa operations to 2,000 stores.
UK restaurant chain Whitbread said it plans to boost its Costa coffee shop and hotel business in the next five years as it reported record profit before tax of £ 210.3mln (EUR 266.4mln) in 2007, up 26.3% on 2006's figure. Whitbread CEO Alan Parker said the company would increase the capacity of its Premier Inn hotel chain by 50% to 55,000 rooms and double the Costa operations to 2,000 stores.
'2007/2008 was a year of excellent progress with good results across the company. Whitbread is now a more resilient business with strong growth prospects in the UK and overseas. In anticipation of a more challenging environment, action has been taken to simplify processes and reduce costs,' Parker said.
Whitbread's Premier Inn business had a record year in 2007 with room growth of 3,400 and sales up 15.1%, while Costa posted an increase in sales of 23.5%.
