Whitbread, the hotel to restaurant operator, had a strong year and is committed to opening 2,000 rooms in 2009/10.

It said it has a strong pipeline of secured sites and will continue to develop a land bank.

For the year to 26 February its annual profit met forecasts despite a tougher fourth quarter. At its Premier Inn hotel chain it said sales rose 14%, with like for like sales up 6%, while sales at its restaurants rose 3.2%, with like for like sales up 4.6%. At its coffee chain Costa sales increased by 22%, with like for like sales up 2%.

It said total revenue from continuing operations were up 9.7% to £1.3bn. While pre tax profit was up 9.3% to £229.9m.

Whitbread said it upgraded over 7,000 Premier Inn rooms and refurbished a total of 48 restaurants, 42 of which were Brewers Fayres.

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