Given the positive summer trading updates from UK hospitality firms such as JD Wetherspoon (JDW), Marston’s (MARS) and Mitchells & Butler (MAB), expectations are fairly high for Beefeater, Brewers’ Fayre and Premier Inn owner Whitbread (WTB) when it reports first-half earnings on 18 October.

In the first quarter to the start of June, Premier Inn accommodation sales were up 18% on last year while RevPAR (revenue per available room) was up 16% with the firm citing strong demand from both business and leisure guests.

The group also reported ‘strong momentum across the group’ leading into the second quarter with forward-booked revenue in the UK well ahead of 2022 and a recovery in demand in Germany with RevPAR up almost 50%.

Shore Capital leisure analyst Greg Johnson recently raised his full-year pre-tax profit forecast for a third time, from £485 million to £535 million, and suggested the group had enough excess capital to carry out more share buybacks this year.

Johnson also argued that adjusting for costs associated with the roll-out of Premier Inn in Germany, Whitbread’s UK business is trading on just 14 times net income and eight times EV to EBITDA (enterprise value to earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization), which he set against the group's ‘robust trading, market-leading position, freehold-rich and debt-free estate, attractive return metrics and medium-term opportunities’.

UK UPDATES OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS

FULL YEAR RESULTS

16 October: Tristel

17 October:  Bellway, Seraphim Space Investment Trust, EnSilica, Revolution Bars

18 October: Whitbread

INTERIMS

17 October: Smartspace Software

TRADING ANNOUNCEMENTS

13 October: Record, InterContinental Hotels

17 October: IntegraFin, Rio Tinto, Jupiter Fund Management

18 October: Segro, Quilter, Liontrust Asset Management

19 October: London Stock Exchange, Network International, AJ Bell, Dechra Pharmaceuticals, Pension Bee, Mondi, Rentokil Initial

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