Premier Inn Owner Whitbread To Cut 1,500 UK Roles

By Reuters
Premier Inn Owner Whitbread To Cut 1,500 UK Roles

Premier Inn owner Whitbread announced plans to exit 126 under-performing branded restaurants on Tuesday, resulting in a reduction of about 4%, or 1,500 roles, in its UK workforce.

Still, the company announced a 26% rise in its final dividend and said it planned to buy back shares worth £150 million pounds (€175.7 million).

Whitbread

Whitbread said its food and beverage (F&B) division saw a 2% sales dip in the seven weeks to April 18, hurt by lower demand at its branded restaurants.

It is undertaking a set of measures at its F&B division to improve business, including the job cuts and reorganising certain branded restaurants, the company added.

UK And Germany

For the full year, however, the hotel-chain company posted a 36% rise in annual profit, helped by strong demand in the UK and Germany.

The company reported annual group pre-tax profit of £561 million (€657 million), slightly below average estimates of £565 million (€661.8 million), according to a company-compiled consensus.

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