Whitbread plc (WTB) Q1 2027 Earnings Call

Investor webinar replay

Replay transcript excerpt

Hello, everybody, and welcome to the WIPRED FY27 Q1 Trading Update. My name is Elliot, and I'll be coordinating your call today. If you'd like to ask a question during today's event, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. I will now hand it over to Dominic Paul, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining the call for our Q1 Trading Update. I'm joined today by Hemant Patel, our Group CFO, and we look forward to answering your questions shortly. Hopefully you've had a chance to read the Q1 release, which we published this morning. I'm going to start with a very brief overview for those who haven't seen it, and then we'll open up the call for Q&A. It's been a strong start to the year. In the UK, trading has been positive, with total accommodation sales up 3% and rev car up 2% versus last year. Reflecting the strength of our brand commercial program, we increased our outperformance versus the market on both accommodation sales and red bar growth, delivering a healthy red bar premium. In Germany, we continue to make good progress and significantly outperform the wider market, which has been softer due to a lower number of high-impact events this year. Total accommodation sales grew by 16%, driven by the opening of six leasehold hotels in the period and the benefit of our commercial initiatives. While sustainability remains limited, our forward book position in both the UK and Germany is ahead of last year, supported by strong measured bookings, and we remain confident in the full year outlook. Before moving to Q&A, I wanted to just say a few words on our new five-year plan. As a reminder on the 30th April just six weeks ago, Following a comprehensive review of all options to maximise value creation, we outl...