Whitbread to withdraw Premier Inn operations in India, South East Asia

Whitbread will begin a phased withdrawal of its Premier Inn operations in India and South East Asia as part pf the strategy announced in April to focus on markets where it can generate good long-term sustainable returns.

The company, which also owns the Costa coffee chains, said it will focus its international strategy on growing the business in Germany, a structurally attractive hotel market and in the Middle East where it operates a profitable and growing joint venture.

Whitbread said expansion plans for Premier Inn in the UK are unchanged and Costa's UK and international growth plans are not affected by this announcement.

It added that the impact of the costs associated with the withdrawal was not material.

Chief executive officer Alison Brittain said: “In April I laid out a three-point plan to build a bigger and better Whitbread. I reiterated the strong growth prospects for Whitbread in the UK, where we have laid out bold milestones for Premier Inn and Costa and confirmed that Whitbread also has an exciting future beyond the UK.

“A key strategic theme is to focus on our strengths internationally and that means identifying those opportunities to invest our capital and management time wisely to generate the best and most sustainable returns. To build a successful future for Premier Inn overseas, we must focus on those markets where we can grow scale and where our brand proposition is most compelling for our customers."

At 1440 BST, Whitbread shares were down 0.3% to 3,698.00p.