Whitbread Rules Out Equity Issue

Whitbread, which owns Costa Coffee and Beefeater, said it has no plans to raise money through an equity issue.

The UK firm said it was considering diversifying the sources and tenure of its debt by borrowing more through the capital markets.

The group posted a 6.6% rise in underlying profits of £239m ($351m) for the year ending 4 March 2010.

The group, which also runs Brewers Fayre and Taybarns restaurants, is planning to invest an additional £8m ($11.7m) in marketing its hotel and restaurants this year.

Costa Coffee, which has delivered 32 consecutive quarters of underlying sales growth, also plans to expand from 1,600 to 3,000 outlets by 2014-15.