Whitbread (LON:WTB) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Whitbread (LON:WTB) announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported GBX 123.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, Digital Look Earnings reports. The business had revenue of GBX 292.02 billion during the quarter. Whitbread had a net margin of 8.66% and a return on equity of 7.68%.

Here are the key takeaways from Whitbread’s conference call:

• Whitbread unveiled a new five?year plan to become a 100% pure?play hotel business, targeting a +500 bps increase in group ROCE and to generate £2bn of free cash flow available for shareholders by FY2031.
• The plan extends the Accelerating Growth Plan to convert all remaining 197 branded restaurants into integrated F&B and add ~3,000 extension rooms, but this transition will cause a near?term FY2027 profit hit of about £40m (net £10m reduction) and requires roughly £660m of incremental investment.
• Whitbread reached profitability in Germany in FY2026 and expects the German business to turn cash?flow positive by FY2029 and deliver double?digit returns across the network by FY2031 while growing the estate to ~18,000 rooms.
• Management is expanding efficiencies to a cumulative £250m, plans to recycle £1.5bn of freehold property, cut gross CapEx by £1bn, and target net annual CapEx of £200–250m, while maintaining investment?grade leverage (lease?adjusted 3.3x) to fund growth and shareholder returns.

Whitbread Trading Down 6.3%

LON:WTB traded down GBX 151 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting GBX 2,234. The stock had a trading volume of 1,465,136 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,885,985. Whitbread has a one year low of GBX 2,098 and a one year high of GBX 3,302. The company has a market capitalization of £3.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.61, a PEG ratio of -3.09 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a 50-day moving average of GBX 2,438.10 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 2,623.73. The company has a quick ratio of 1.74, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 178.99.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WTB has been the subject of several analyst reports. Berenberg Bank downgraded shares of Whitbread to a “hold” rating and set a GBX 2,900 price objective for the company. in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a GBX 2,815 price objective on shares of Whitbread in a research note on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on shares of Whitbread from GBX 2,550 to GBX 2,500 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Whitbread from GBX 3,100 to GBX 3,300 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Whitbread currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 3,119.17.

Insider Activity at Whitbread

In other news, insider Christine Mary Hodgson acquired 7,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 16th. The shares were bought at an average price of GBX 2,706 per share, with a total value of £209,715. Also, insider Kal Atwal acquired 462 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of GBX 2,737 per share, for a total transaction of £12,644.94. 0.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Whitbread

Whitbread is the owner of Premier Inn, the UK’s biggest
hotel brand, with 86,000 rooms in over 850 hotels
and a growing presence in Germany with 10,500 rooms in
59 hotels, offering quality accommodation at affordable
prices in great locations.

People are at the heart of our business. We employ over
38,000 team members in over 900 Premier Inn hotels
across the UK and Germany.