Whitbread chief executive warns on slump

We aren't out of recession yet and anyone who thinks we are should take a cheap weekend away to reconsider.

That's the view of Whitbread chief executive Alan Parker, a man who can claim to have managed the downturn better than most.

The company behind Premier Inn, Costa Coffee and Beefeater has had a good recession, as its cheap offering proved popular with travelling business people and "staycationers".

Today it recorded a fall in sales and profits for the first half of the year but was sanguine about the future.

"We were not forecasting Armageddon last winter, nor do we believe that one or two months mean the worst is past," said Parker. "You can't call the recession over. At best we are bumping along the bottom."

Like-for-like sales slipped 2.7%, while underlying profit was also down 2.7% to £118 million. The interim dividend is held at 9.65p.

Whitbread has 75 new hotels "in the pipeline", ready for when the good times do return.

"It's not a question of if we start expanding. It's just a question of when," added Parker.