Restaurant Group delivers positive surprise

FTSE 250 hospitality outfit Restaurant Group (LON:RTN) has seen its share price rise by 10.98% to 140.50p (as of 15:25 GMT) as it beat profit expectations for the year ended 30th December. While pre-tax profits were significantly below last year, this was not as bad as had been feared given the current conditions in the casual dining market and recent management issues at the company.

CEO Andy McCue commented: “We have made significant progress in 2018, acquiring a differentiated, high growth business in Wagamama, opening a record number of new sites in both our Pubs and Concessions businesses, and driving improved like-for-like sales momentum in the Leisure business throughout 2018. We now have a business that is orientated strongly towards growth and we continue to focus on delivering shareholder value“.