Premier Inn owner Whitbread has set a target of at least £300million more profit and over £2billion for shareholder returns in the next five years.

It comes after the hospitality group saw first-half profits slump, with adjusted pre-tax earnings down 13 per cent year-on-year to £340million in the six months to 29 August.

Whitbread chief executive Dominic Paul said: ‘We are making excellent progress with our plans and over the next five years are set to deliver a step change in our performance which will fund significant returns to shareholders.

‘Demonstrating our confidence, we have today announced details of our Five-Year Plan that sets out the scale of our ambition to FY30.

‘Having laid the foundations for future growth, we are executing at pace and remain confident in the outlook as reflected by our increased interim dividend and further share buy-back.’

Total public debt across the world will top $100 trillion (£77 trillion) for the first time by the end of this year, according to a stark forecast by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

As Rachel Reeves struggles to make her Budget numbers add up, the global watchdog said governments must act now to prevent debt spiralling further out of control or risk having to take even more painful action in future.

Its projections see global debt reaching 93 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) by the end of this year and 100 per cent by 2030.

Thomas Pugh, economist at RSM UK:

‘The drop in inflation to 1.7% leaves it a whopping 0.4ppts below the last MPC forecast. While the slowdown was driven by lower airfares (11.9% to -5.0%) and fuel (-3.4% to -10.4%), services inflation dropped back to 4.9%, its lowest reading since May 2022, and core inflation dropped to 3.2%.

‘Admittedly, inflation will rebound later this year as favourable base effects fall out of the annual comparison, some of the more erratic factors that pulled down inflation in September unwind and energy prices move higher.

‘But this morning’s data is clear evidence that disinflation is continuing to move through the economy at pace, and should reassure the Bank of England that it can move to cut interest rates more aggressively without stoking higher inflation.

‘Finally, the drop in inflation will come too late to help out the Chancellor at the budget, as September’s inflation rate is one factor used in setting next year’s benefit payments. But a much larger budget than expected, combined with higher borrowing, could keep the MPC cautious, despite the more positive outlook on inflation.’

Hetal Mehta, head of economic research at St. James’s Place:

‘The fall in UK inflation is very broad-based, and for the BoE, the core inflation and services inflation numbers in particular will be good news.

‘They should consolidate the expectations of a cut in November and perhaps the vote split will narrow.

‘As for back-to-back cuts, I think more evidence of a continued decline in inflation is needed before we see this and suspect the BoE will also want to have a more time to digest the Budget announcements.’

Consumer price inflation eased more quickly than expected in September, falling from 2.2 to 1.7 per cent, data from the Office for National Statistics shows.

Last month’s inflation reading was below market expectations of 1.9 per cent and boosts the case for further Bank of England interest rate cuts in November.