Whitbread plots growth of Costa shops in France April 29, 2014 AFTER winning over coffee addicts in the UK, Whitbread said yesterday it plans to take its Costa Coffee chain to France as it posted a jump in profits and rewarded shareholders with a 20 per cent rise in its dividend. The FTSE 100 company, which also owns the Premier Inn hotel chain, said underlying operating [...]
Jump in Costa sales drives profit growth for Whitbread April 29, 2014 Leisure giant Whitbread has announced a boom in underlying profits before tax of 16.5 per cent to £412m for the financial year ending 26 February. Total revenue rose by a hefty 13 per cent to £2.2bn, with like-for-like sales rising by 4.2 per cent. Strong sales at both Premier Inn and Costa were significant drivers [...]
Whitbread chairman Anthony Habgood to step down this year January 22, 2014 ANTHONY Habgood is to step down as chairman of Whitbread after eight years overseeing the Costa coffee owner’s rapid expansion. The FTSE 100 leisure group, which also owns Premier Inn and restaurants including Table Table, said yesterday that Habgood intends to leave later this year. Whitbread independent director Sir Ian Cheshire, who is also the [...]
‘No talks’ at Whitbread October 26, 2005 The wind was knocked out of Whitbread’s sails yesterday after chief executive Alan Parker moved to quieten the takeover talk that has buoyed its shares. The leisure group was one of the biggest fallers of the day after Parker said there had been “no talks” with private or trade buyers about selling off any of [...]