British hotel group Whitbread said on Wednesday a key revenue metric for its mainstay UK business fell 4% in the past six weeks, dented by weak demand.
Still, the Premier Inn owner raised its interim dividend and announced a share buyback programme worth £100 million (€119 million).
Its total UK accommodation sales for the six-week period ended October 10 were down 1%, with revenue per available room (RevPAR) - an important metric for the hospitality industry - at £72 pounds.
The group, which also owns restaurant and pub chains such as Beefeater and Bar+Block Steakhouse, has seen a slowdown in demand, reflecting a return to more normalised levels after what was a strong performance last year when the impact of the pandemic on the leisure and travel industry started to wane.
Adjusted profit before tax fell to £340 million (€406 million) for the six-month period ended August 29, from £391 million (€461 million) last year, due to soft demand in the UK as well as the transitionary impact of the company's growth plan.
Whitbread said it was targeting further profit of at least £300 million (€358.5 million) in the next five years and more than £2 billion (€2.3 billion) as shareholder returns.
Separately, Whitbread in April laid out plans to close underperforming branded restaurants that would lead to 1,500 job cuts, and said it intends to turn some of those restaurants to hotel rooms.
Earlier this year, the group said its German business was on course to break-even on a run-rate basis in calendar year 2024, while it expected gross capital expenditure in the fiscal year to be between £550 million (€650.4 million) and £600 million (€710 million).
