9th Mar 2016 07:29
LONDON (Alliance News) - Restaurant Group PLC on Wednesday posted stronger profit and revenue and hiked its dividend for 2015, but gave a bearish outlook on 2016, with like-for-like sales having fallen so far this year.
The restaurant operator, which runs the Frankie & Benny's, Chiquito and Garfunkel's chains, said its pretax profit rose to GBP86.8 million in the 12 months to the end of December from GBP84.9 million a year earlier, with revenue rising 7.9% to GBP685.4 million from GBP635.2 million.
Most of the revenue growth was driven by new site openings, which hit 44 for the new year and delivered robust returns on investment, as like-for-like sales increased 1.5%.
The group will pay a final dividend of 10.6 pence per share, taking its total dividend up to 17.4p, a 13% rise year-on-year.
Restaurant Group said that while total sales increased 6.0% year-on-year in the first 10 weeks of 2016, like-for-like sales dipped 1.5%, as the more challenging trading conditions seen in the latter part of 2015 continued into this year, with softer consumer demand and weaker overall consumer confidence.
Though early in the year, Restaurant Group said it expects these trends to continue through the year and while total sales will rise due to new openings, like-for-like sales growth will likely be "difficult to generate".
"In common with most consumer businesses we will again have some challenges to face in 2016. However, I am confident that the underlying strengths of our business will enable us to successfully navigate our way through this more challenging external environment," said Chief Executive Danny Breithaupt.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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