Issue of Debt

RNS Number : 6694N

Whitbread PLC

06 September 2011

 



6 September 2011

Whitbread broadens debt profile with £156.4m private placement

Whitbread PLC, the UK's largest hotel and restaurant group, today announced an agreement for long term debt from US and UK investors under a private placement.

It has been the Group's policy for some time to diversify its sources of debt and to extend its maturity profile.  In 2010 we issued US$115m and £25m (total funding of £101.8m) of debt private placement notes due in 2017 and 2020. Today we are announcing further debt private placement notes of US$210m and £25m. These have been arranged with existing and additional institutional investors and swapped to achieve total funding of £156.4m.  These private placements are due for repayment on various dates between 2019 and 2022 and were achieved at fully swapped sterling interest rates of 4.3% to 5.2% with an average rate of 4.8%.  The funding is to be effected in two tranches with £62.6m planned to be drawn later today and the balance in January next year which coincides with the maturity of £200m of 5.7% fixed rate swaps.

The additional borrowings will be used to replace funds drawn under the Group's bank facilities.

Christopher Rogers, Group Finance Director said "We are pleased to have agreed further long term debt financing at attractive rates from both existing and new institutional investors".

For more information please contact:

Investor Relations

Christopher Rogers, Whitbread PLC          [phone]

Press Contacts

Anna Glover, Whitbread PLC                    [phone]

David Allchurch, Tulchan                         [phone]

For photographs and video please visit our media library on www.whitbreadimages.co.uk

Notes to Editors

Whitbread PLC is the UK's largest hotel and restaurant group operating market-leading businesses in budget hotels, restaurants and coffee shops.  Its well-loved brands are Premier Inn, Beefeater, Brewers Fayre, Table Table, Taybarns and Costa.

Whitbread PLC employs over 40,000 people globally and serves over 10 million customers every month in over 2,000 outlets across the UK.

Whitbread has outlined five-year growth milestones (to 2015/16) to increase the number of Premier Inn UK rooms by nearly 50% to at least 65,000, add 80-100 new Restaurants and to nearly double the size of Costa with global system sales of £1.3bn and 3,500 stores worldwide.

In the year ended 3 March 2011, Whitbread PLC reported a 11.5% increase in Group Revenue to £1,599.6 million and Underlying Profit before tax of £287.1 million up 20.1%.

Whitbread PLC is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100. It is also a member of the FTSE4Good Index.

 

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