Berenberg Lifts Whitbread's Pretax Profit Estimates After Fiscal H1 Results Show 'Good' UK Momentum

08:00 AM EDT, 10/21/2026 (MT Newswires) -- Berenberg raised its profit before tax forecasts for Whitbread (WTB.L) after the hotel and restaurant company's fiscal first-half results showed "good momentum" in its UK business. The research firm said Wednesday that Whitbread's adjusted fiscal first-half profit before tax of 287 million pounds sterling beat consensus by 4%, helped by cost efficiencies. Analysts also noted an acceleration in the company's revenue per available room, or RevPAR, in the UK for the fiscal second quarter, reflecting the continued outperformance of Premier Inn. As such, Berenberg raised its fiscal 2026 adjusted profit before tax estimate by 4% and its UK RevPAR forecast to 2%. Against this backdrop, Berenberg reiterated the stock's hold rating, citing continued hurdles in carrying out Whitbread's five-year plan. "Successful recycling of capital to fund growth is necessary given leverage sits dangerously close to the 3.5x threshold and year-to-date proceeds are thus far wide of the mark. Furthermore, the five-year plan assumes revenue per available room (RevPAR) growth and cost efficiencies offset cost inflation, which is difficult to underwrite given UK RevPAR has proven volatile, as has cost inflation," analysts added. The price target was raised to 24 pounds from 22.80 pounds.