Resilient performance at Restaurant Group

1st Sep 2011 07:16

Frankie & Benny's restaurant chain operator, The Restaurant Group, served up an 8% increase in pre-tax profit and said it is confident of another year of good progress in 2011.Adjusted pre-tax profit rose to £24.4m for the 26 weeks ending 3 July 2011 from £22.6m in 2010. Total revenue for the period increased 7.5% to £234m. The company, which also owns Garfunkel's and operates restaurants in out of town leisure parks and at London airports, said like-for-like sales increased by 3%.Chief executive Andrew Page said, "Against a tough economic backdrop, ongoing cost pressures and with household incomes being squeezed hard, this performance demonstrates the ongoing resilience of TRG's businesses and the strength of our team and our brands."Restaurant, which operates many of its restaurants close to cinemas for movie-goers who choose to have a meal before the film, said it has opened 11 new restaurants, which are trading well, and it is looking to add a further 11 to 16 new sites before the end of the year."Despite the recent raft of downbeat newsflow, and the disturbances in early August, we've made a good start to the second half," the group said.Restaurant has lifted its interim dividend to 4p per share from 1.54p a year earlier, reflecting the group's solid performance.---CJ