Whitbread will buy back an extra £2 billion of shares using proceeds from its Costa Coffee sale and aims to double the long-term network potential at its hotels business to more than 170,000 rooms in Britain and overseas.
The group, which gave details of its plans at a Capital Markets Day on Wednesday February 13, completed the $5.1 billion sale of Costa Coffee last month, and has shifted its focus almost entirely to hotels, which includes the Premier Inn brand in Britain.
Whitbread put the potential total for the number of rooms in Britain at 110,000 in the long term from an existing portfolio of 74,000 rooms.
Investors have been looking for signs of an aggressive growth plan, with Whitbread flush with cash from the Costa sale. Analysts had long felt the coffee chain was dragging down Whitbread's overall business.
"Following the sale of Costa for £3.9 billion, there will be capital which is surplus to Whitbread's ability to invest at a strong return on capital in the near term," it said.
German Expansion And Pushing "Zip" Rooms
Whitbread is also looking to expand hotels in Germany to at least 60,000 rooms via investment in freehold and leasehold properties, combined with acquisitions. It predicted a profit from its German operations in fiscal year 2022.
As well as increasing its international presence, the company is targeting the UK budget hotel market with "Zip" rooms that start from £19 to try to boost revenue in its home market, where consumer spending has come under pressure because of uncertainty created by Britain's exit from the European Union.
Savings
The FTSE 100 company, which said it had already saved £150 million in the last three years, also promised investors a further £220 million in cost savings over the next three years.
Whitbread began an initial share buyback programme of up to £500 million last month following the Costa deal.
After the Costa sale, Whitbread's business in Britain includes its Premier Inn hotel business and a handful of restaurant chains including Beefeater, Thyme, Table Table and Brewers Fayre.
News by Reuters, edited by Hospitality Ireland. Click subscribe to sign up for the Hospitality Ireland print edition.
