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WHITBREAD
Costa has blamed a lack of shoppers on the High Street for a fall in like-for-like sales at the start of the year.
The nation's biggest coffee chain reported a 2% fall in like-for-like sales in the first three months of the year.
However, total UK sales growth were up by 5.2% thanks to new store openings, said Costa parent Whitbread.
Whitbread said early steps had been taken to demerge Costa from the group, a move announced in April.
"Our stores remain highly profitable and deliver an excellent return on capital," said Whitbread boss Alison Brittain.
The firm added: "The UK like-for-like sales decline resulted principally from footfall weakness in traditional shopping locations, whereas travel locations continued to show good growth."
UK High Streets have been struggling in recent months with big names closing stores and restaurants and some retailers shutting down altogether.
Marks & Spencer, House of Fraser, Mothercare, New Look, Byron, Jamie's Italian, and Prezzo are all closing outlets.
Meanwhile, Maplin, Poundworld and Toys R Us have gone into administration.
Costa said it was now actively refocusing its network towards "high-footfall and convenient locations".
The coffee chain has more than 2,400 UK coffee shops, as well as some 1,400 outlets in 31 overseas markets. Costa Express has 8,237 vending machines worldwide.
The spun-off Costa firm will be floated and listed as a separate business by 2020. A further update on the demerger will be provided in October.