Solid start to year for The Restaurant Group
Total sales for the period, which saw the opening of nine restaurants, were 8.5% ahead of the previous year.
The company expects to open between 42 and 50 new restaurants in 2015, compared with 40 last year.
In a trading update today, Alan Jackson, chairman of the Restaurant Group, will announce that the company is on track to report a good first half year performance.
With an improving film release schedule and easier comparatives in the past four months of the year, it is expected growth will continue to build well in the second half of the year.
Subject to approval at the AGM, the final dividend for the year ended 28 December 2014 of 9.3p per share will be paid on 8 July 2015 to shareholders. This will make the full year dividend for 2014 of 15.4p per share, representing a 10% increase on the 2013 dividend.
