(Reuters) -Premier Inn owner Whitbread reported on Thursday a modest increase in total accommodation sales in the UK for a six-week period, and reaffirmed its full-year 2025 forecast, supported by strong sales in Germany.
Whitbread, the owner of restaurant and pub chains such as Beefeater and Bar+Block Steakhouse, reported a 2% rise in total accommodation sales in the UK for the six-week period ended on Jan. 9. In Germany, total accommodation sales rose by 37%, with revenue per available room climbing 28% for the region.
Despite strong travel demand during the festive season, UK businesses are grappling with uncertainty due to significant payroll tax hikes introduced in finance minister Rachel Reeves’ October budget.
Whitbread noted that, taking into account the budget’s impact, it expects gross UK cost inflation to range from 5% to 6% on its 1.7 billion pounds ($2.07 billion) cost base for 2026.
Factoring in efficiencies of 50 million pounds, it said it expects net cost inflation to fall to between 2% and 3%.
Several UK hospitality sector bosses, including Whitbread CEO Dominic Paul, warned in November that tax hikes announced by the new labour government would force businesses to reconsider investment and cut jobs.
While forward visibility remains limited, Paul in a statement on Thursday said that favourable supply conditions and other strategies would help the business to outperform the market.
The company posted a 2% drop in total sales in the third quarter ended on Nov. 28 with total RevPAR down 3% for Premier Inn UK from a year earlier.
($1 = 0.8195 pounds)
(Reporting by Radhika Anilkumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips)
