Restaurant Group H1 revenue rises but World Cup weighs

29th Aug 2014 10:19

The Restaurant Group posted higher first-half revenue but said it took a hit from the World Cup.The restaurant chain, which owns Coast to Coast and Frankie & Benny's and Garfunkel's, said its revenue rose 10% to £308m against £280m at the same time last year, while like-for-like sales grew 2.5%.Like-for-like sales rose in the first five months of the year, but fell slightly in June as people stayed at home to watch the football tournament in Brazil.Profit before tax also increased during the first half of the year at £33.7m compared to £30m in the year before, while basic earnings per share were 12.8p against 11.16p last year.The group, which has more than 450 restaurants, opened 17 outlets in the first half and expects to open between 38 and 43 new ones by the end of the year.The company recommended an interim dividend of 6.1p per share, a rise of 16% from last year's 5.25p.Numis analysts said on Friday: "Our target price rises to 760p (from 725p) to reflect a positive outlook and the potential for upgrades, but due to a 14% surge in the share price over the last six weeks, we are moving our recommendation from 'buy' to 'add'."The group's shares were down at 2.81% to 640.5p at 09:40. JF