Hospitality operator Whitbread has reported that pre-tax profit for the first half of 2025/26 declined from £340m to £316m year on year, as food and drink sales dropped 11 percent.

The downturn comes as the operator moves its focus away from underperforming branded restaurants and towards an expansion of its Premier Inn cafe and restaurant estate.

“We remain focused on disciplined capital allocation and increasing financial returns,” said CEO Dominic Paul. 

“Having completed £99m of sale and leasebacks at attractive yields and with the updated valuation of our estate, we are on track to recycle £1bn by FY30 to fund future high-returning growth, such as our Accelerating Growth Plan, and increase our return on capital employed.”

Following the announcement, Catering Today reported Whitbread’s UK segment profit margins “narrowed to 23.4 percent from 24.6 percent,” however “£43m of savings were achieved in the period.”