Premier Inn owner Whitbread targets £100m in extra cost savings as pandemic decimates profit
Premier Inn owner Whitbread will cut costs by an additional £100m over the next three years following the impact of the pandemic, which caused the hotel chain to swing to a huge loss.
Whitbread said this morning that it will “take actions to ensure that we exit the crisis as a leaner, stronger and more resilient business”.
It will begin the next phase of its efficiency programme, targeting an extra £100m in savings by 2024.
Whitbread said today that revenue in the last financial year fell 71.5 per cent to £589.4m and it swung to a loss of £906.5m.
Shares in Whitbread, which also owns pub chains including Beefeater and Brewer’s Fayre, dipped 1.82 per cent to 3,349p following the update.
The company, which is expecting to invest £350m of capital during this financial year, said it is expecting strong demand for “staycations” in the UK when hotels are open to all guests from 17 May.
Business and event-led demand is expected to begin to recover when restrictions on those sectors are lifted from June.