Better times on the menu at Frankie & Benny’s

The owner of Frankie & Benny’s has reported falling half-year sales, but chief executive Andy Mccue insisted the business has stabilised following turnaround efforts.

Like-for-like sales at the Restaurant Group fell 2.2 per cent in the six months to 2 July, with total sales dropping about 7 per cent to £333.1 million.

The firm, which is also behind Garfunkel’s and Chiquito, saw adjusted pretax profit slide 30.4 per cent to £25.5m. Statutory profit came in at £2.8m.

Mccue, who has been closing under-performing restaurants and rejigging menus as he looks to rejuvenate the group, said: “We have made good progress against our strategic initiatives outlined in March.”