LONDON: British hotel group Whitbread Plc on Thursday reported a dip in first-half profit, pressured by a softer German market and the restructuring of its food and beverage operations, but reaffirmed its ambitious five-year plan to boost profitability and return £2 billion to shareholders by 2030.
The owner of the Premier Inn chain said adjusted profit before tax fell 7% to £316 million ($387 million) for the 26 weeks to August 28, 2025, compared to the same period a year earlier. Statutory revenue was also down 2% to £1.54 billion.
The decline was largely anticipated, driven by the ongoing closure of underperforming branded restaurants to make way for new hotel rooms. Despite this, the company highlighted “positive trading momentum” and said its core UK business had returned to market growth in the second quarter, with Premier Inn continuing to outperform the wider UK midscale and economy hotel sector.
“We are on track to deliver a step-change in profitability,” the company said in a statement, outlining a five-year plan to generate at least £300 million in incremental profit by fiscal 2030.
This plan hinges on three main pillars: expanding its UK room network, a “strong commercial programme” to drive sales, and achieving profitability and scale in Germany.
While progress in Germany continues, with losses narrowing to £3 million from £9 million a year ago, the company moderated its full-year profit outlook for the region to “up to £5 million” due to softer-than-expected market demand. It nonetheless announced an agreement to acquire 1,500 rooms in Germany, reinforcing its commitment to growth there.
Whitbread also provided a updated valuation of its property portfolio, estimating its freehold and long-leasehold assets at between £5.5 billion and £6.4 billion. This, it said, gives it confidence to recycle £1 billion into high-returning investments, such as building new rooms.
The group confirmed it is on course to complete a £250 million share buy-back by April 2026 and declared an interim dividend of 36.4 pence per share, unchanged from last year. Over the five-year period to 2030, Whitbread expects to return a total of £2 billion to shareholders via buy-backs and dividends.
($1 = £0.8156)