Brokers expects Whitbread to report pre-exceptional pre-tax profits of about £140m-£146m, up from £134.7m last time when it posts its interims results on Thursday, reports The Business.
The Sunday Times says Alan Parker, chief executive will announce plans to move from the headquarters in the City point Tower in the Square Mile to be closer to the head offices of its operating divisions, all mainly based in Bedfordshire.
The strategic review, which will be announced along with the results, is likely to detail plans to launch a £200m-£300m share buyback programme funded from the sale of the Courtyard chain and about a dozen Marriott hotel freeholds. Further buybacks could follow.
The Sunday Times says there are no obvious synergies or overlaps between Whitbread’s various parts and to some extent this is holding back the share price which closed on Friday at 847p. But Parker told the newspaper he was not approaching the strategic review to make Whitbread a smaller company.
It says he is more likely to focus on explaining how the £2.4bn freehold property portfolio can be made to work more efficiently. He might also spell out initiatives such as an incentive scheme for senior managers based on profitability rather than sales growth.
The newspaper says the favourite for the chop is the pub-restaurant division which owns the Beefeater, Brewers Fayre and Brewsters brands. It argues one solution might be to sell pubs that are not next to hotels and convert the remaining sites into a single brand.
The Independent on Sunday and the Financial Mail on Sunday say Parker is expected to deliver a £500m bonanza for shareholders. This would be dependent on several factors, such as the sale of Britvic.
The Business 24/10/04 page 18
The Sunday Times (Business) 24/10/04 page 1, page 13, page 14 (The Week Ahead)
The Sunday Telegraph (Business) 24/10/04 page 9 (City Agenda
The Independent on Sunday (Business) 24/10/04 page 3
Financial Mail on Sunday 24/10/04 page 11
