Whitbread sees profits at top of forecasts after Q4 sales rise

LONDON, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Whitbread (LSE: WTB.L - news) said it expected to post full-year profit toward the top end of market forecasts as strong demand at its Premier Inn hotels and Costa Coffee chain helped deliver a 5.8 percent rise in fourth quarter underlying sales.

Britain's biggest hotel and coffee shop operator, which also runs pubs such as Brewers Fayre, said like-for-like sales had risen 8.6 percent at it budget Premier Inn business and by 6.9 percent at its UK Costa stores in the 11 weeks to Feb. 12.

Prior to Wednesday's announcement, analysts had forecast Whitbread to post a full-year pretax profit of between 437 million pounds and 495 million pounds, with an average consensus of 472 million pounds ($731 million), according to Reuters data.

Whitbread said it expected capital investment to rise from 575 million pounds in the year to end Feb to 700 million pounds in its new fiscal year as it steps up hotel expansion.

($1 = 0.6455 pounds) (Reporting by Neil Maidment; editing by Kate Holton)