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The rapid growth of Premier Inn and coffee chain Costa has continued after their owner Whitbread reported better-than-expected sales figures.

Total sales for the group, which also includes Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurants, rose by 13.9% in the 13 weeks to May 31, an increase of 4.5% when the impact of new site openings is stripped out.

Chief executive Andy Harrison said Costa had maintained its “excellent momentum” with an 8.4% rise in underlying sales, while Premier outperformed the mid-market and economy sector following a strong April.

He reiterated plans to create 3,500 new UK jobs this year by opening 4,200 Premier Inn rooms, 350 new Costa stores and eight restaurants.

Whtibread

Whitbread shares jumped 5% after the first quarter trading update.

Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown stockbrokers, said the company’s recent success had driven shares up by 21% over the last year, compared to a 4% drop for the FTSE 100 Index. He added: “The twin turbos of Premier Inn and Costa coffee continue to drive Whitbread’s momentum.”

Whitbread has nearly 50,000 Premier Inn rooms in the UK and Ireland, as well as 389 restaurants and more than 2,000 Costa outlets worldwide.

The group created 2,500 jobs in its last financial year and recently stated its intention to recruit a further 10,000 staff in the UK and Ireland by early 2015. It has plans for a total of 10,000 Premier Inn rooms and will continue the aggressive expansion of Costa, which now has around 1,400 UK stores.

Recent openings meant Premier’s total sales rose 12.4% in the first quarter of its financial year, with the closely watched measure of revenues per available room (revpar) up 2.9%.

This reflected a strong April and was stronger than the rest of the equivalent sector, where industry figures have revealed revpar fell by 2.6%.

The Press Association