Frankie & Benny's owner The Restaurant Group nearly doubles revenue

The Restaurant Group said the relaxation of trading restrictions had helped the organization's like-for-like sales nearly double in the first half of the fiscal year.

The hotel operator, which also owns the Barburrito and Frankie & Benny chains, on Thursday advised investors that revenues jumped 95 per cent year-on-year to £423.4 million in the six months that ended July 3.

Nonetheless, with the exception of the Concessions division, which suffered from a loss of international travel after the release of the Omicron version, all business sectors reported healthy business in this period.

This allowed the company to report an adjusted pre-tax profit of £10.2m, compared to a loss of £19.9m a year earlier when its stores were trading at full capacity for just seven weeks.

However, a £26.1m legal loss arose because of significant impairment charges caused by worsening inflationary pressures and troubling short-term economic prospects.

TRG expects food and beverage buying to be between 9 percent and 10 percent higher this year, and personnel expenditures will be at least 6 percent higher.

To reduce future rises in costs, all electricity and gas costs are cut by 2024, which the firm expects will cost between £40 and £70 million over the next two years.