Costa Coffee sales boost Whitbread

The UK's love affair with Costa Coffee shows no sign of cooling, as parent company Whitbread reported a healthy rise in sales at the chain.

Sales at 1,650 Costa stores rose by 7.3% this summer on last year, flattered by a weaker performance in July 2013 when hot weather discouraged people from heading into coffee shops.

Costa has since opened more than 100 new stores, as it closes in on a target of 2,200 UK stores and £2bn global sales by 2018.

The chain is also booming in China, where it has 350 stores in more than 30 cities, making it Costa's biggest market outside the UK. Total sales in Asia, where the chain also has stores in India and Thailand, grew by 20.8%.

Whitbread was also boosted by a strong performance at Premier Inn, with sales up 9.3% on last year, which the company attributed to the improving economy and events such as the Farnborough air show and the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The hotel chain is expanding rapidly, with plans to open up 4,500 rooms and five hotel restaurants this year. The group said it had acquired three sites in London (Clapham, Sutton and Westminster).

It is also launching new city centre hotels, with cheaper, smaller rooms in desirable locations. The first "hub by Premier Inn" will open in London's West End later this year, with more to follow in the capital as well as Edinburgh.

Whitbread, which also owns the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre restaurant chains, recorded a rise in like-for-like restaurant sales of 3.1%.

The FTSE 100 company has become a star performer on the index, with its share price rising by 1.2% to £44.50 on market opening.

Andy Harrison, the Whitbread chief executive, said the group was on track for another good year, as its brands continued to win market share and expand.