Profits fall at Premier Inn owner Whitbread on drop in UK bookings

Shares rise on promises to return 2bn to investors through buybacks and dividends, and more hotel openings

Profits at the Premier Inn owner Whitbread have fallen after it was hit by higher costs and a drop in UK bookings, but shares rose on the promise of a share buyback and more hotel openings.

Britain's largest hotel group, which owns 852 hotels in the UK and 61 in Germany, reported a 14% fall in adjusted pre-tax profit to 483m for the year to 27 February. Revenues dipped by 1% to 2.9bn, as revenue per available room in the UK was down by 2%.