Costa Coffee has reported a “positive start” to the financial year, with sales up 28.4% in the 13 weeks to 29 May.

Owner Whitbread said the coffee chain had benefitted from a “rapid expansion programme which has seen the total number of units increase year-on-year by 289 to 1,051”. Like-for-likes were up by 6%.

Costa has recently signed franchise agreements for Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Singapore.

In a statement, Whitbread added: “The attractiveness of our brands to guests has been demonstrated by our good performance to date. We remain cautious, however, should the consumer environment become more challenging.”

Costa is also donating its £150,000 profits from sales on 14 June to its Foundation. The money will go towards building five new schools in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Uganda.

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