Whitbread boss Dominic Paul said the impact of UK business rates changes will be lower than first expected, but the company still believes they will be damaging for the hospitality sector.
Mr Paul said the Premier Inn owner will take a hit of about £35m in FY27, which is lower than its earlier estimate of £40m to £50m.
However, he added: “We continue to believe the proposed changes to business rates are damaging for the overall sector and will impact future investment and job creation and we, along with the wider hospitality industry, continue to press the UK Government for changes.”
He made no reference to Scottish business rates despite the Scottish Budget taking place today.
“We delivered a strong performance in the third quarter, with positive momentum across the business,” he said in a third quarter update.
“We remain highly disciplined regarding our strategic actions and by focusing on what we can control, we have continued to make great progress against our key initiatives and will deliver a higher level of efficiencies in FY26 than previously expected.”
Total group sales were up 2% to £781 million, driven by positive accommodation sales in both the UK and Germany.
The Gym Group
The Gym Group said it is accelerating its rollout of new sites and anticipates full-year results for 2025 to exceed analyst forecasts
This is driven by an 8% rise in revenue to £244.9m and a 3% like-for-like revenue growth.
Average members rose 4% to 945,000, with average revenue per member per month increasing to £21.60.
The company opened 16 sites, bringing the total to 260, and reported net debt of £59.3m, £5m below consensus.
Adjusted EBITDA Less Normalised Rent for FY25 is expected to be above the £52.5-54.9m consensus.
Will Orr, CEO, said: “This has been another year of strong progress for the group, and we now expect the FY25 outturn to be at the top end of our previous guidance.
“Our Next Chapter growth strategy is delivering, and we see significant opportunities ahead in a market with structural growth tailwinds. As a result, we are accelerating our organically funded rollout to c.75 new sites over the next three years.”
Games Workshop
Games Workshop reported a record half-year with sales growth driven by the release every week of new miniatures across the whole breadth of its portfolio.
It was another successful period for sales of existing products with customer engagement focused on multiple ways to engage in the Warhammer hobby. The company also continued to expand its own stores, albeit more slowly.
For the 26 weeks ended 30 November 2025 revenue increased by 10.9% to £332.1 million.
There was another record performance from the international team.
Operating profit rose by 11.3% to £140.4m, and profit before taxation increased to £140.8m.
Persimmon
Housebuildeer Persimmon reported a strong 2025 trading performance with new home completions increasing by 12% to 11,905 units, and the average selling price rising by 4% to approximately £278,000.
The company expects its full-year underlying profit before tax to be at the upper end of market expectations, while the housing operating margin is anticipated to be towards the lower end of the guided range.
Forward sales increased by 2% to £1.172 billion, with private forward sales up 4% to £680m. The company ended the year with net cash of approximately £116m after returning £192 million to shareholders and spent £60m on its building safety remediation programme.
Persimmon anticipates stable trading conditions for 2026, with current market expectations for home completions and profit before tax to be met.
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