Were Whitbread’s results in line with expectations ?
SHERIDAN ADMANS | SHARE CENTRE
Investors moved in [yesterday] to take profits as Whitbread delivered double digit growth…Despite being on target to meet its growth plan and the attractiveness of its business model, we continue to recommend “hold” in these challenging times as we believe the potential is reflected in the price.
WYN ELLIS | NUMIS SECURITIES
The results reflect continued outperformance in a broadly flat market. Whitbread says that it expects “continuing rapid growth” with total sales on track for its five year milestones. Following a strong recent performance in the shares we are moving to a “hold”.
SIMON FRENCH | PANMURE GORDON
Whitbread cautions that its consumer market context continues to be broadly flat and expects more moderate levels of sales growth and we therefore expect no change to consensus of £348m. We remain cautious on current trading and the increasingly competitive environment for budget hotels.