* H1 pretax profit 151.8 mln stg vs consensus 142-151 mln
* Costa Coffee H1 sales up 27.7 percent
* Premier Inn revenue up 14 percent
* Interim dividend 11.25 pence a share
* Says plans more hotel, coffee store openings (Adds CEO comment, analyst, share price)
By Caroline Copley
LONDON, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Britain's biggest hotels operator, Whitbread, reported pretax profit at the top end of expectations, boosted by strong growth and expansion of its Costa Coffee and Premier Inn brands.
The group, which also owns the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre pub restaurant chains, said on Tuesday underlying pretax profit increased 28.4 percent to 151.8 million pounds ($241 million) in the six months to Sept. 2.
That was at the top end of a consensus forecast for 142-151 million pounds, according to a poll of eight analysts supplied by Whitbread.
Chief Executive Alan Parker said that, despite an uncertain economic outlook, Whitbread was confident for the rest of the year.
"I think the consumer is concerned about value for money and they are watching their pennies carefully. In our markets we feel in a fairly buoyant position," Parker said on a conference call with reporters.
Figures from the British Retail Consortium show retail sales growth halved last month, while the weakest inflow of new business in more than a year blighted the outlook for the British service sector.
Shares in Whitbread were up 0.71 percent to 1705 pence at 0808 GMT.
Whitbread said total sales increased 14.5 percent to 805.4 million pounds, with Costa Coffee revenue up 27.7 percent, pub restaurant sales rising 4.5 percent and Premier Inn revenue 14 percent better.
FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS
Like-for-like sales at coffee stores chain Costa rose 8.5 percent, boosted by new products such as the flat white and ice cold Costa, and a customer loyalty card.
At Premier Inn, regional revenue per room (RevPAR), a key industry indicator, was up 8.5 percent compared with a regional hotel sector average of 2.6 percent growth.
"I think they're a very good set of results and all the businesses are firing on all four cylinders," KBC Peel Hunt analyst Nick Batram said.
"There's still a lot of organic growth opportunity in Costa and in Premier," Batram said.
The group opened 116 Costa stores during the period and plans to have some 1,850 stores worldwide by the end of the year, aiming to build businesses in China, India, Russia, the Middle East and central Europe.
Premier Inn, the UK's favourite hotel brand according to a YouGov survey, opened 795 rooms in the period and has plans for at least 1,700 more in up to 18 new hotels in the second half.
Whitbread is paying a dividend of 11.25 pence per share, up 16.6 percent on last year's halfway payout.
The average forecast for Whitbread's pretax profit for the 12 months to February 2011 is 270 million pounds according to a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S poll of 20 analysts.
($1=.6295 Pound)
(Reporting by Caroline Copley; Editing by Sarah Young and David Hulmes)