Restaurant profits up

THE popularity of recent cinema f i l ms has given families a renewed appetite for eating out, boosting profits at The Restaurant Group.

With brands i ncluding Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito, the company saw pre-tax profits rise 12 per cent to £33.7million in the first half of the year.

Incoming chief executive Danny Breithaupt said: “We have started to see spend increase a little bit which is t he si gn of a recovering economy. These are really a strong set of results. This business is in good shape.”

The Group, which also owns Garfunkel’s and Coast to Coast, said it was benefiting from a bounceback after the World Cup as customers began swapping takeaways for eating out.

Revenues rose 10 per cent to £308million, fuelled by new restaurant openings.

Breithaupt said sales were fuelled by people going out to eat before going to the cinema, with chicken proving popular on the menu.

The Restaurant Group said that in eight to 10 years it could double in size from its current 450 sites.

Its shares fell to 644p.

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