Restaurant Group sales take hit from World Cup
The Restaurant Group has posted another fall in sales and profits as the Frankie & Benny’s owner was hit by extreme weather and the World Cup.
Like-for-like sales were down 3.7 per cent in the six months to 1 July, with total revenue falling 2.1 per cent to £326.1 million.
The firm, which also owns Garfunkel’s, Joe’s Kitchen and Chiquito, saw adjusted pretax profit fall from £25.5m to £20.1m, while on a statutory basis it dipped from £12.6m to £11.7m.
The group said the decline in sales reflected investment in price cuts, as well as adverse weather and the World Cup.
It warned earlier this year that sales had been chilled by the wintry weather in the first quarter, and the heatwave also dented takings.
The firm also booked an £8.4m charge linked to onerous lease provisions. However, it noted that recent trading has been “encouraging”, with like-for-like sales up 2.4 per cent for the six-week period sincetheendoftheworldcup.