COMPANIES Whitbread, owner of the Premier Inns budget hotel chain and Costa Coffee shops, will unveil a large jump in its pension fund deficit when it reports full-year results next week.
Analysts are expecting the accounting deficit in Whitbread’s pension scheme to widen from £33m to about £250m for the 12 months to February 28 as a result of sharp falls in global equity markets and declining yields on government bonds.
