Whitbread boosted by £5m VAT refund

Whitbread has been boosted by claiming back £5m worth of VAT paid on gaming machines at its pub restaurants.

The money has been claimed back from HM Revenue & Customs after a High Court judge ruled​ in a separate case last year that charging VAT on some machines — including category C AWP machines used in pubs — and not others, broke EU competition law.

"As HM Revenue and Customs have appealed against this ruling there is a contingent liability for the amount of the refund plus interest," said chief executive Alan Parker.

Revenues at the company's restaurants — which include Beefeater, Brewer's Fayre, Table Table and Taybarns — grew by 4.5% for the six months to 2 September to £247.3m. Like-for-like sales for its restaurants improved by 4.2% driven by an increase in total covers of 7% and like-for-like covers of 6.4%.

Value for money​

"Our restaurants continued to outperform the market throughout the first half as we attracted more customers looking for great value food and drink in a comfortable environment," said Parker, who will be succeeded by Andy Harrison in November.

"They achieved further consistent positive like for like sales growth which is a commendable performance compared to the experience of previous World Cups.

"Increased occupancy in our hotels also had a positive impact on restaurant sales, enhanced by our well received and successful £20 meal deal offer for Premier Inn guests."

Cost conscious​

He added: "Cost conscious customers know that they can always find a great value meal deal made with high quality ingredients such as two meals for £10 at Brewers Fayre."

Group revenue, including its Premier Inn hotels and Costa coffee chain, increased by 14.5% year-on-year to £805.4m including the exceptional revenue of £5m arising from the VAT refund. Underlying profit before tax and exceptional items rose 28.4% to £151.8m.