Growing Costa Coffee sales help Whitbread weather the recession

Like-for-like sales for the six months ending 27th August 2009 were down 2.7% with an underlying profit before tax of £118.2 million. This is better than analysts predicted earlier this year and Whitbread put this down to growing sales at its coffee chain Costa. Anthony Habgood, chairman of Whitbread explained more: "Whitbread is coming through a difficult period relatively well. Total revenues at our hotels and restaurants business were marginally lower while at Costa they were up more than 20%. We remain focused on managing the business tightly during these challenging times and ensuring the Company is well-placed to benefit when conditions improve." Alan Parker, chief executive added that the group's value for money brands such as Taybarns "have considerable appeal for today's price conscious customers". Whitbread said its pub restaurants "have continued to deliver a robust performance as customers appreciate our attractive value propositions". On the topic of expansion, the group said it would look pursue this "when the time is right". The financial announcement concluded that "the economic conditions will remain difficult for the foreseeable future".