The Board has recommended a final dividend of 49.8p per share, reflecting the Group's strong FY23 performance, its strong balance sheet, continued momentum of current trading and confidence in the full year outlook. If approved by shareholders at the AGM to be held on 22 June 2023, this would result in a total dividend payment for the year of £149m and the final dividend will be paid on 7 July 2023 to all shareholders on the register at the close of business on 26 May 2023. Shareholders will be offered the option to participate in a dividend re-investment plan. The Group's dividend policy is to grow the dividend broadly in line with earnings across the cycle.
Other Financial Highlights:
- Premier Inn UK: total UK accommodation sales were 55% ahead of FY22 and 37% ahead of FY20 representing a 25.2pp outperformance versus the M&E market
- F&B sales were 40% ahead of FY22 and 4% behind pre-pandemic levels with increased spend per head outweighed by a decline in customer volumes
- UK pre-tax margins increased to 19.6% (FY22: 4.5%) despite sector-wide inflationary pressures, driven by strong revenue growth and their ongoing cost efficiency programme
- UK ROCE increased to 12.9% up from 11.2% in FY20
- Premier Inn Germany: ongoing expansion meant that adjusted loss before tax was £50m; their cohort of 18 established hotels performed in line with the market5 and was profitable in aggregate6 in FY23; acquisition of six hotels completed on 2 March 2023
- Statutory revenue was 54% ahead of FY22 and 27% ahead of FY20
- Adjusted profit before tax was £413m (FY22: loss of £16m) and statutory profit before tax was £375m (FY22: £58m) after charging £39m of adjusting items (FY22: £74m credit), including £1m of net property impairment credits in the UK and £31m property impairment charges in Germany (FY22: £42m net impairment credit), £14m of technology-related project costs and £4m profit from property disposals (FY22: £33m). The Group recognised £nil government support relating to FY23 (FY22: £171m)
- Strong balance sheet: lease adjusted leverage reduced to 2.7x (FY22: 4.4x) and net cash increased to £171m (FY22: £141m); pension fund surplus was £325m at the end of the period (FY22: £523m)
