Whitbread CEO Harrison to leave as profits surge

LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Britain's biggest hotel and coffee shop operator Whitbread (LSE: WTB.L - news) said on Tuesday its chief executive Andy Harrison would retire by next February as it posted a better than expected rise in full-year profit.

Harrison, who has grown Whitbread considerably since joining in September 2010 from easyJet, will become Chairman of British homewares retailer Dunelm on July 7 this year.

Whitbread said it had started the search for a replacement.

Whitbread, which runs Costa Coffee, Premier Inn hotels and pubs such as Brewers Fayre, said on Tuesday pretax profit for the year to Feb. 26 was 488.1 million pounds ($744 million), up 18.5 percent on a year ago and ahead of an average forecast of 478.7 million.

($1 = 0.6562 pounds) (Reporting by Neil Maidment; editing by Kate Holton)