Hospitality group Whitbread has seen a 7% rise in sales, as its Costa coffee chain and Premier Inn hotel brand continued to flourish.

Underlying profit before tax rose 18.5% to £256 million, with a 20.5% rise in profits at Costa and a 15% rise at its hotel and restaurant business.

Andy Harrison, chief executive, said: "Our two market leading brands, Premier Inn and Costa, go from strength-to-strength and continue to win market share.
"This financial year we expect to invest around £500 million in driving our organic growth and further improving the quality and consistency of our customer experience. We expect to open around 4,500 new Premier Inn UK rooms and around 230 new Costa stores worldwide. This keeps us on track to achieve our ambitious growth milestones."