Whitbread Warns of Higher Costs in 2027, Backs Guidance

By Maitane Sardon

Premier Inn owner Whitbread said it is confident it can achieve its full-year outlook, but warned that measures in the U.K. government's budget will sharply increase business rates for many of its hotels in 2027.

The U.K. hotel-and-restaurant group said it maintains its full-year guidance for 2026, as return-to-market growth in the U.K. continued into the third quarter and demand in Germany has improved since the second quarter.

However, the company warned that changes included in the U.K. budget are expected to add between 40 million and 50 million pounds ($53 million-$66.2 million) to its cost base in 2027.

As a result, it expects U.K. cost inflation to be between 7% and 8%. It said it plans to counter this with efficiency savings of 60 million pounds, which should limit net cost inflation to between 3.5% and 4.4%.

"Over the coming weeks and months, we will be exploring a variety of options in order to further drive profits, margins and returns," Whitbread Chief Executive Dominic Paul said.

Write to Maitane Sardon at maitane.sardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 28, 2025 08:09 ET (13:09 GMT)