Chiquito owner reveals sales boost

THE owner of Chiquito and Frankie & Benny’s restaurants today said sales continued to grow in recent weeks despite the riots and economic gloom.
By The Newsroom
Published 1st Sep 2011, 12:32 BST

Restaurant Group, which operates 387 outlets, reported a 3% rise in like-for-like sales in the 26 weeks to July 3, marking a significant improvement on the 0.5% increase in the first quarter.

Underlying profits were up 8% to £24.4 million as the group refused to take part in ‘deep discounting’, such as two-for-one offers, which have become common in the industry. This helped it maintain its margins in the face of rising food prices.

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It said the second half of its financial year had “started well”, with like-for-like sales growth of 2.75% in the year to date, despite August being blighted by the riots and heightened fears of another global recession.

Chief executive Andrew Page said: “Despite the recent raft of downbeat newsflow and the disturbances in early August, we’ve made a good start to the second half.”

However, the group expects the “tough backdrop for consumer-facing businesses to continue”.