Costa Coffee's financial performance indicates that consumers are not shying away from buying its lattes, despite the difficult economic conditions.
Whitbread – owner of Costa Coffee and Premier Inn – today (28 April) reported its pre-tax profits of £271.2m in the year ending 3 March 2011, up from £208m the previous year.
Revenue was also up from £1.44bn to £1.6bn.
The company attributed its performance to the strength of its brands and the value proposition of Premier Inn.
Growth plans for this year include opening 300 new Costa Coffee stores, in a bid to lure customers away from rivals Starbucks and Cafe Nero.
Overseas expansion plans and the creation of 2,500 new jobs in the UK are also on the agenda.
snapped up the Coffee Nation coffee machine chain for £59.5m and announced plans to rebrand it as Costa Express.
The group today reaffirmed plans to set up 3,000 more Coffee Nation units.
Andy Harrison, Whitbread chief executive, said that the company’s emphasis would be on giving customers cheaper options.
He said: "Despite a more challenging consumer economy, we are confident that we will continue to outperform, based on the strength of our brands and our customer positions. Our emphasis is on giving customers value for money, winning market share and keeping a tight control of costs."
The group’s plans for Premier Inn, which uses Lenny Henry in its TV ads, include growing the number of rooms it offers by around 9% (approximately 4,000 additional rooms and 14 new restaurants).
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