Whitbread Posts Rise In Profit, Raises Dividend

Whitbread PLC

reported an increase in its full year pretax profit and lifted its total dividend by 12%. Whitbread's pretax profit for the financial year surged to 355.3 million pounds, from GBP305.8 million, in the year-earlier quarter. Its net profit gained to GBP303.5 million from GBP267.3 million, while total revenue surged to GBP2.03 billion from GBP1.78 billion. Its underlying diluted earnings per share increased to 149.19 pence from 134.05 pence.