Food goes cold at Frankie’s

Bad weather has taken a bite out of Restaurant Group’s sales.

Takings at the firm, which owns Frankie & Benny’s, Garfunkel’s and Chiquito, fell 4.3% during the 20 weeks to May 20.

“Trading in the period was heavily impacted by the adverse weather,” it said. The company has closed 26 of a planned 41 outlets so far this year. However, it said it was “comfortable with the performance” and now expects to see an improvement from a turnaround plan.

Investors seemed to agree with the upbeat assessment and Restaurant Group shares rose 3.3% yesterday.