Whitbread's interim revenue rises 2.6 percent

(Reuters) - First half revenue at British restaurant and hotel owner Whitbread Plc <WTB.L> rose 2.6 percent on the back of an influx of tourists to the UK and a rise in the overall capacity of the company's hotels.

Total UK sales growth in the UK at Premier Inn, its hotel business, was 4.8 percent, although like-for-like growth was just 0.2 percent reflecting a weakening of consumer demand, the company said.

Whitbread, which is selling its Costa Coffee brand to Coca Cola to refocus its business, said it expects to open Premier Inn 4,000-4,500 rooms in the UK and Germany in 2019.

(Reporting by Karina Dsouza in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)