- Coronavirus restrictions weigh upon bookings, pushing the Premier Inn owner into loss
- Whitbread conducts £340m impairment of German assets in response to the pandemic
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It comes as no surprise that Whitbread’s (WTB) sales sit at less than a quarter of their level at the 2019 half-year mark. The majority of its sites were closed for a large part of the period under review. The owner of Premier Inn flagged the extent of its turnover decline in a September trading update, preparing the market for interim results that would spell out the destructive impact of coronavirus restrictions and changing travel habits upon the hotel industry. Whitbread isn’t providing long term guidance, but it expects the UK’s new tiered approach to Covid-19 to play a part in a further drop-off in bookings across November and December.