London, Oct 14 - Whitbread, Britain's biggest hotel and restaurants operator, reported a 24 percent increase in first-half pretax profit, helped by strong growth at its Premier Inn and Costa Coffee chains. Pretax profit before exceptional items increased to 123.3 million pounds ($214.8 million) in the six months to Aug. 28, from 99.4 million the previous year.
Whitbread said sales at its 532 Premier Inn budget hotels increased by 18 percent. Premier Inn accounts for around 70 percent of the group's profit.
Premier Inn has been picking up trade as cash-strapped Britons look for better deals on hotels and businesses cut spending.
Sales at Costa Coffee rose by 26 percent. The group's pub restaurants business, which incorporates the Brewers Fayre, Table Table, and Beefeater chains, saw sales rise by 6 percent.
Shares in Whitbread have outperformed the FTSE All Share Travel and Leisure Index .FTASX5750 by 18 percent since the start of the year.