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Costa coffee chain's profits go cold Costa coffee chain's profits go cold
(35 minutes later)
Costa has reported a 10% fall in pre-tax profits to £59m for the first half of the year, partly due to coffee imports being more expensive. Costa has reported a 10% fall in first-half profits, partly due to more expensive coffee imports.
The UK's biggest coffee chain also pointed to higher staff costs and business rates for the drop. Pre-tax profits at Costa slid to £59m, with the UK's biggest coffee chain also pointing to higher staff costs and business rates for the decrease.
However, the firm's owner, Whitbread, saw group profits rise thanks to growth from its Premier Inn hotel business.However, the firm's owner, Whitbread, saw group profits rise thanks to growth from its Premier Inn hotel business.
Whitbread's pre-tax profits increased by 20% to £316m on the back of a 7% rise in sales to nearly £1.7bn. Whitbread chief executive Alison Brittain said consumer confidence had "softened" slightly on the High Street.
She also told the BBC that Costa had no plans to put up its coffee prices, despite seeing rising costs.
The coffee chain's like-for-like sales - which measures growth among existing outlets - increased by 0.6%, helped by the launch of hot breakfasts and lunches.
Whitbread's pre-tax profits in the six months to 31 August increased by 20% to £316m as it added more Premier Inn rooms and opened more Costa coffee outlets.
In the UK, it opened over 2,000 new Premier Inn rooms and added 108 more Costa stores during the period.