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(Reuters) – Whitbread Plc, owner of Premier Inn, said Tuesday expecting low room revenue growth in Britain for fiscal year 2020 due to lower demand in its market main.
The company has been hit by heightened competition in the crowded economy hotel sector, including online services such as Airbnb and OYO Hotels, in a challenging economic climate and political turmoil prompting the UK to cut costs.
Whitbread has also struggled to support sales in the UK and is looking to expand into other geographic areas to compensate for the lack of growth.
The company warned in January that its profits would not grow in 2019-20 as its economic outlook was uncertain.
The former owner of Costa has seen an increase in underlying annual underlying profit of 1.2% to 438 million pounds, boosted by its desire to cut costs while pursuing its expansion plans in Germany.
Revenues increased 2.1% to 2.05 billion pounds for the 12 months ended Feb. 28, but same-store sales growth at its hotels dropped to 0.6% in Britain, compared to 2.2% a year earlier.
The shares of the company FTSE 100 fell 2.7% to 4,627 pence at the beginning of the session.
Reportage by Sangameswaran S in Bengaluru; Edited by Shounak Dasgupta
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