Whitbread (WTB)

Last week’s column looked at the quantity of FTSE 100 revenue, profit and dividends and drew comfort from how all three were expected to reach record levels in 2020, according to analysts’ consensus forecasts. Better still, those forecasts did not seem unduly aggressive, with the sales expected to rise by just 2%, pre-tax profit by 8% and dividends by 3% next year. This week, our attention ...

Shares in Premier Inn-owner Whitbread (WTB) have remained broadly flat at around £41.95 despite Brexit uncertainty contributing to a lower half year profit. In its results for the six months to 29 August, adjusted operating profit fell 7.7% to £296m while adjusted revenue was effectively flat at £1.08bn. A big drag on its results were the performance of Premier Inn, with its hotels ...

UK stocks opened weaker today as the market awaits another key vote in parliament tonight. The FTSE 100 was down 15 points at 7,151 while the FTSE 250 was down 38 points at 20,270. Durex to Dettol maker Reckitt Benckiser (RB.) cut its full-year guidance for the second time this year sticking the blame on cautious retail purchasing ahead of the flu season in the US for its Mucinex product ...

Although there were few nuggets of corporate news as the third quarter drew to a close, the FTSE 100 index of leading stocks continued to climb towards a two-month high adding another 0.1% to 7,331. Support came mainly from the Banks, with HSBC (HSBA) gaining 0.5% to 627p, Barclays (BARC) gaining 0.3% to 151p and Lloyds (LLOY) also adding 0.3% to 55p. Weighing on the index were the ...

Several analysts suggest the 850p per share takeover offer for pubs group Greene King (GNK) is too low. Investors already holding the stock should sit tight and await a higher offer, either from the current suitor or a counterbid. Hong Kong-based property developer and investor CK Asset is offering £4.6bn for the business including its large debt pile. The offer is pitched at a 25% premium to ...

Activist investing isn’t new, but the reason we’re hearing more about it is the activists themselves are getting increasingly savvy about communicating to the public. Activists come in all shapes and sizes, from ‘lone ranger’-style individuals to the largest fund management and private equity firms. On the whole, they tend to get results. They challenge long-held views and bring a ...

Shares in Premier Inn owner Whitbread (WTB) have dropped 3.4% to £47.34 as it announces it will return around £2bn to shareholders at a price of £49.72 per share. The tender offer is a way of returning some of the proceeds from Whitbread’s £3.9bn sale of Costa Coffee to Coca-Cola earlier this year. Including a £482m share buyback earlier this year, Whitbread has returned just under ...

UK stocks start the week flat with the FTSE 100 opening at 7,509, little changed from Friday as investors weigh up the political environment. Ahead of Boris Johnson’s likely appointment as the new prime minister tomorrow investors seem to be acting cautiously with uncertainty over a 'no-deal' Brexit set to go up a notch. Heightened tensions in the Gulf, as well as a possible interest rate ...

Shares in over-50s insurance and cruise-line operator Saga (SAGA) jumped 5% to 45p on news that US activist investor Elliott Advisors has taken a 5.1% stake in the business. Elliott is well known for pushing for change in companies including Whitbread (WTB), where it argued for the break-up of the company, resulting in the sale of Costa to Coca-Cola, and GKN which was ultimately bought by ...

Shareholders in Premier Inn owner Whitbread (WTB) only have days to decide if they want to sell some of their shares back to the company as part of a £2bn tender offer. The tender offer is a way of returning some of the proceeds from Whitbread’s £3.9bn sale of Costa Coffee to Coca-Cola earlier this year. Whitbread’s official deadline to take part in the tender offer is 1pm on 19 July ...

Shares in Premier Inn owner Whitbread (WTB) are trading sideways at £46.08 after a 1.3% drop in early morning trading following what analysts have called ‘very soft’ first quarter results. Like-for-like sales growth in the UK was down 3.7% overall – down 4.6% in its accommodation business and 2.1% in food and beverages – compared to a 0.6% decline the previous quarter. READ MORE ABOUT ...

London’s FTSE 100 dips 23 points to 7,420.5 on Wednesday with investors waiting for the latest Federal Reserve meeting with bated breath. In stark contrast, Asian shares rally after US President Donald Trump said on Twitter that he had a ‘very good’ call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, raising investors’ hopes of an amicable resolution to the US-China trade war. High-end housebuilder ...

We’re seeing a large number of high profile companies join, or plan to join, the stock market in 2019. The catch is that they are choosing the main stock exchanges in the US rather than listing in the UK. That isn’t generally a problem in terms of getting access as most UK stockbrokers and investment platforms let you buy shares in overseas-listed companies. The real issue is whether you ...

The 10.2% year-to-date rise in the FTSE 100 is a great result but the UK stock market’s flagship index is still being comfortably outpaced by its international counterparts. And seen on a longer-term view the FTSE has definitely underperformed relative to other global benchmarks. In this article we explain why this has happened, which super sectors have contributed to the relative ...

Following another all-time high in US stocks overnight, UK markets build on yesterday’s gains with the FTSE 100 index up 0.1% to 7,450 points. Oil giant BP (BP.) reports first quarter earnings down on the same quarter a year ago but marginally ahead of estimates, lifting the shares by 1% to 557p. Underlying replacement cost profit was $2.4bn compared with $2.6bn a year ago and forecasts of ...

With the New Year well underway there have been plenty of news items to catch investors’ attention of late. There was a reminder of the continuing pressures on the airline sector as Ryanair (RYA) and EasyJet (EZJ) landed the market with mixed updates on 18 January and 22 January respectively. Ryanair warned on profit again, lowering guidance from a range of €1.1bn to €1.2bn down to €1bn ...

The £3.9bn sale of its Costa Coffee franchise to Coca-Cola has netted Whitbread (WTB) a tidy sum, funds which can be returned to shareholders in time. Yet the sale also leaves the Premier Inn operator almost exclusively reliant on its hotels chain, which now represents the bulk of the business going forward. Against this backcloth it is understandable that today's disappointing third quarter ...

UK stocks trade lower after the government survived a motion of no confidence by a narrow margin last night. The FTSE 100 index of leading stocks is down 0.5% to 6,863 points leaving it more or less where it finished last week. Banks, Insurers, Miners and Oils are the main losers while Consumer stocks such as BATS (BATS), Diageo (DGE) and Unilever (ULVR) are stemming the losses. AB FOODS ...

UK markets continue their losing run in a predictably quiet final trading session before the holiday. The FTSE 100 index loses around 40 points in a truncated Christmas Eve session that will close for the Christmas break at 1pm when the London Stock Exchange shuts down. That leaves the blue-chip index at 6,681.07 as investors struggle to shake-off a multitude of concerns for the weeks and ...

Premier Inn owner Whitbread (WTB) plans to target people looking for ‘no-frills’ cheap accommodation by launching a new hotel concept called Zip. Chief executive Alison Brittain says the market opportunity for ultra-budget consumers could be worth £1bn annually. She believes the new Zip brand will target people that typically do not stay at Premier Inn as they may deem it too ...