Total like for like sales were up 1.7%, with business adversely effected by the Easter and Royal Wedding holidays, but picking up strongly since then, especially in Premier Inns and Costa. The news has sent Whitbread shares 76p higher to £15.61, and Nigel Parson at Evolution Securities said: The recent soggy share price performance suggests the market was braced for bad news from Whitbread today but trading remains consistent with the outlook at the prelims and the stock could register a bounce. We are trimming our forecasts to reflect a more cautious view of the UK economy ex-London but the stock remains good value. Whitbread's strong value proposition remains relevant and the increasing roll-out will compensate for more muted like for like sales.