British hotel and restaurant group Whitbread Plc (WTB.L) reported that its first-quarter Group total sales advanced by 13.8%, with like-for-like sales rising 3.1%, which is in line with the company's plan.
For the 13 weeks to May 30, 2013, Premier Inn grew total sales by 12.7% with total room nights sold increasing 10.9% to 3.7 million, while Costa grew total system sales by 23.1% to 281.8 million pounds, with total franchise system sales up by 21.6% to 111.8 million pounds.
Whitbread's Chief Executive commented, "Our restaurants saw an improved performance in recent weeks, after a tough start to the quarter due to the unseasonably cold weather. Costa, the UK's favourite coffee shop, has continued to perform well, benefitting from the cold weather, with total sales growth of 24.8% and like for like sales growth of 8.0%."
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