Restaurant Group, the owner of the Frankie & Benny's chain, has said that it will shut stores in its leisure business and temporarily suspend its dividend.
The company, which operates restaurants and pubs in the UK under brands such as Chiquito and Coast to Coast, said that it will reduce its number of stores to 260-275 by the end of 2021, from 350 currently.
Falling Sales
The company has been struggling with falling sales in its leisure business that have also offset robust performance in its Wagamama, concessions and pubs units.
"This will allow us to continue investing in our three high growth businesses whilst facilitating an acceleration of our leisure estate rationalisation and reducing our net debt", Restaurant Group said.
The company reported a statutory pre-tax loss of £37.3 million for the full year ended December 29, compared with a pre-tax profit of £13.9 million last year.
Like-For-Like
Restaurant Group reported a 2.7% rise in its annual like-for-like sales, with total sales surging 56.4% to £1.07 billion.
The company said that trading for the first six weeks of 2020 was encouraging with like-for-like sales up 5.3%.
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