In This Article:
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Accommodation Sales: Flat year-on-year, outperforming the mid-scale and economy market.
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Food and Beverage Revenue: Declined as expected due to exiting branded restaurant sites.
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Efficiency Savings: GBP75 million delivered, ahead of previous guidance.
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U.K. Cost Base: Reduced by 1% despite ongoing inflation.
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Germany Performance: Strong trading performance, significantly reduced loss before tax.
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RevPAR Growth in Germany: Double-digit growth.
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Forward Booked Revenue: Ahead of last year with strong summer bookings.
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5-Year Plan Incremental Profits: GBP300 million expected.
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Shareholder Return: More than GBP2 billion through share buybacks and dividends by full year '30.
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Share Buyback: Further GBP250 million announced to be completed over the next 12 months.
Release Date: May 01, 2025
For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.
Positive Points
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Whitbread PLC (WTBCF) achieved GBP75 million in efficiency savings, surpassing previous guidance.
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The company is making significant progress in Germany, with strong trading performance and reduced losses before tax.
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Whitbread PLC (WTBCF) plans to deliver GBP300 million in incremental profits and more than GBP2 billion in shareholder returns by full year 2030.
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The company is executing a property recycling strategy, planning to recycle at least GBP1 billion of mature property assets into high-returning projects.
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Whitbread PLC (WTBCF) is confident in its commercial plans, with forward booked revenue ahead of last year and strong bookings into the summer months.
Negative Points
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Market demand in the U.K. has been slightly softer, affecting overall performance.
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Food and beverage revenues declined as the company exited several branded restaurant sites.
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The U.K. demand during the first 7 weeks of the year remained behind last year, with volatile weekly STR data.
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Room growth appears light versus expectations, requiring a material pickup to meet the 5-year plan.
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The macroeconomic outlook in the U.K. remains uncertain, posing potential challenges to future performance.
Q & A Highlights
Q: Can you explain the strong RevPAR growth in Germany's more established hotels and its impact on PBT? Also, what's your confidence level in achieving room growth targets in the U.K. and Germany? A: Dominic Paul, CEO: We're confident in Germany's progress, with high guest satisfaction and brand awareness. The maturity curve is longer than expected, but we're seeing strong trading. Hemant Patel, CFO: The mature sites are still growing, and we expect them to reach target returns in the next couple of years. Room growth in the U.K. and Germany is on track, with a focus on high-returning projects.