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UK hospitality group operating Premier Inn budget hotels plus restaurant brands, and expanding into Germany.
UK hospitality group operating Premier Inn budget hotels plus restaurant brands, and expanding into Germany.
Earns from room bookings at hotels it mostly owns or leases rather than franchises, so occupancy and the average room price matter, with attached restaurants adding food and drink sales. It sold Costa Coffee in 2019 and has focused on hotels since; Germany is the growth market, built from a small base.
In one line: A UK version of a large budget hotel chain like Choice Hotels.
Moat: narrow (scale, brand, distribution). The largest UK budget-hotel network and brand recognition support occupancy and cost advantages over independents.
Headquarters: Dunstable, UK · Founded: 1742 · Employees: 31,615
Size Whitbread (WTB.L) is a United Kingdom Consumer Discretionary company (Hotels/Resorts/Cruise lines) with a market value of $6.37B, the 77th largest of 363 United Kingdom companies the cockpit tracks. Shares closed at £2,827 on 6 Nov 2026.
Performance Over six months the shares gained 24.6%, against +4.9% for the median peer and +3.6% for the United Kingdom market (cap-weighted) — 5th highest of 21 in its peer set.
Growth Revenue grew 2.0% over the last twelve months (peer median +4.8%); the operating margin is 21.0% (peer median 15.6%).
Valuation It trades at 15.8× forward earnings against a peer median of 19.2× (6th cheapest of 19).
Price implies For today's price to make sense, revenue must grow about 10% a year for seven years (Req g). Recent delivered growth is +38%, so the hurdle is -28 pp: the price already allows for a slowdown.
Capital Return on invested capital runs 2.2 points below its cost of capital (7.8% WACC).
Next results Next results expected around 27 Apr 2027 (exchange calendar; dates can move).
| TTM | FY2025 | FY2024 | FY2023 | FY2022 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | £2.95B | £2.92B | £2.92B | £2.96B | £2.63B |
| Revenue growth | — | 0% | -1% | +13% | — |
| Gross profit | £1.50B | £1.48B | £1.48B | £1.48B | £1.27B |
| EBITDA | £1.06B | £1.05B | £1.02B | £1.04B | £878M |
| Net income | £57.7M | £213M | £254M | £312M | £279M |
| Free cash flow | £146M | £98.5M | £293M | £405M | £314M |
| Capital expenditure | £627M | £675M | £486M | £508M | £519M |
| Total debt | n/a | £5.47B | £5.63B | £5.09B | £4.95B |
The default views of Competitor Analysis ▸ Charts, drawn from the same data. Open them in the cockpit to change the axes, pin companies and read every value.
| Company | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitbread WTB.L | $6.37B | +25% | +2% | 21% | 15.8× | 9.7% |
| Accor AC.PA | $12.8B | +12% | 0% | 16% | 22.9× | 14.4% |
| InterContinental Hotels Group PLC Sponsored ADR IHG | $25.3B | +19% | +3% | 24% | 23.8× | 12.7% |
| Choice Hotels International CHH | $5.29B | +12% | +2% | 25% | 15.8× | 4.8% |
Peer set: Industry: the same industry and sector in any market, nearest in size. This is the same default set the interactive Competitor Analysis opens with.
| Measure | WTB.L | Peer median | Rank in peer set |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1-month return | +15.6% | +12.5% | 7th highest of 21 |
| 6-month return | +24.6% | +4.9% | 5th highest of 21 |
| Distance from 52-week high | -2.8% | -12.8% | 3rd highest of 21 |
| Revenue growth (TTM) | +2.0% | +4.8% | 7th lowest of 21 |
| Operating margin | 21.0% | 15.6% | 9th highest of 21 |
| Forward P/E | 15.8× | 19.2× | 6th cheapest of 19 |
| Growth the price implies (Req g, 7 yrs) | 9.7% | 6.8% | 7th most demanding of 17 |
| Growth delivered (Del g) | +37.7% | +17.6% | 4th highest of 17 |
| Hurdle (Req g minus delivered) | -28.1 pp | -11.8 pp | 2nd least demanding of 17 |
| ROIC minus cost of capital | -2.2 pp | -1.8 pp | 8th lowest of 20 |
| EV / EBITDA | 9.4× | 13.8× | 4th cheapest of 19 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 5.0× | 3.8× | 4th most indebted of 20 |
| Company | Market | Market cap | 6M return | Revenue growth | Op. margin | Forward P/E | Req g | Delivered g |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whitbread WTB.L | United Kingdom | $6.37B | +25% | +2% | 21% | 15.8× | 9.7% | +37.7% |
| Seibu 9024.T | Japan | $6.11B | +2% | -41% | 10% | 29.6× | n/a | n/a |
| Vail Resorts MTN | United States | $5.66B | +26% | -4% | 16% | 27.9× | 9.6% | +8.2% |
| Wyndham Hotels & Resorts WH | United States | $5.64B | -6% | +1% | 37% | 15.2× | 1.8% | +1.8% |
| Choice Hotels International CHH | United States | $5.29B | +12% | +2% | 25% | 15.8× | 4.8% | +15.6% |
| Red Rock Resorts RRR | United States | $5.06B | -11% | +1% | 23% | 17.9× | 13.3% | +11.2% |
| Norwegian Cruise Line NCLH | United States | $8.23B | +5% | +5% | 14% | 13.8× | n/a | n/a |
| Atour Lifestyle Holdings Ltd. Sponsored ADR ATAT | United States | $4.82B | -6% | +45% | 21% | 15.8× | 1.8% | +43.1% |
| Travel + Leisure TNL | United States | $4.54B | +15% | +5% | 17% | 8.8× | 3.2% | +11.2% |
| Hanjinkal 180640.KS | South Korea | $9.60B | +74% | +7% | 1% | 43.3× | n/a | n/a |
| Monte-Carlo Societe des Bains de Mer BAIN.PA | France | $4.06B | +9% | +12% | 9% | n/a | 24.2% | +20.7% |
| ITC Hotels ITCHOTELS.NS | India | $3.85B | +5% | +65% | 25% | 34.6× | 37.0% | +64.8% |
| Shanghai Jin Jiang International Hotels 600754.SS | China | $3.18B | -16% | +5% | 14% | 19.5× | -8.1% | +6.9% |
| Accor AC.PA | France | $12.8B | +12% | 0% | 16% | 22.9× | 14.4% | +28.3% |
| Indian Hotels INDHOTEL.NS | India | $13.4B | +33% | +15% | 26% | 55.6× | 42.0% | +43.8% |
| Guoco 0053.HK | Hong Kong | $2.90B | 0% | -11% | 13% | n/a | -3.9% | +16.0% |
| Melia Hotels International MEL.MC | Spain | $2.67B | -10% | +5% | 13% | 15.2× | 7.3% | +31.5% |
| H World 1179.HK | Hong Kong | $15.3B | +3% | +13% | 27% | 18.8× | 6.2% | +19.1% |
| Leela Palaces Hotels & Resorts THELEELA.NS | India | $2.45B | +65% | +17% | 42% | 43.7× | n/a | n/a |
| Resorttrust 4681.T | Japan | $2.36B | -1% | +8% | 12% | 16.4× | -6.4% | +9.4% |
| Hyatt Hotels H | United States | $17.2B | +10% | +3% | 9% | 42.4× | 27.9% | +27.7% |