Restaurant Group sees like-for-like sales drop 2%

The Restaurant Group has issued a trading update to report that like-for-like sales were down 2% last year.

However, when one week's trading of Wagamama is included - which was acquired in December for a deal that valued the company at £559m - total sales increased by 1% for the 52 weeks ended 30 December 2018.

The group, which also includes Frankie and Benny's, Garfunkel's and Chiquito, said that it had delivered like-for-like sales growth since the World Cup.

It opened 21 new pubs (including acquisitions) and a 21 new concessions during the period.

The Restaurant Group added that Wagamama continued to trade well over the festive period following its acquisition.

Chief executive Andy McCue said: "2018 has been a pivotal year for the group in which we have opened a record number of new sites in both our Pubs and Concessions businesses as well as acquiring an extremely high quality business in Wagamama.

"The enlarged business is now orientated strongly towards growth with a number of exciting opportunities ahead. We are focused on executing on our multi-pronged growth strategy and plans for the site conversions and cost synergies are progressing well."