Ash cloud and World Cup hit restaurant giant's figures

Garfunkels and Frankie & Benny's owner Restaurant Group has halted a slide in sales after a hit from the volcanic ash crisis and slower trade during the World Cup.

The firm, which runs more than 40 restaurants in airports, was impacted by the air travel woes in the first six months of its year, while the World Cup added to pressure on the rest of its estate.

Interim like-for-like sales fell 0.5 per cent, but it told investors yesterday that it had seen more resilient trading since then, with like-for-like sales flat in the 35 weeks of the year so far.

Cost cutting helped the group deliver a 13 per cent hike in underlying pre-tax profits to 24.6 million in the 27 weeks to 4 July, a rise of 10 per cent on a 26-week comparable basis.

This came despite the troubles at its airport eateries, where sales plummeted by around 90 per cent over the week-long ash cloud crisis, knocking more than 500,000 off earnings. Its Frankie & Benny's and Chiquito businesses were then hit by weaker trade during the World Cup.

Seymour Pierce analyst Hugh-Guy Lorriman upgraded full-year profit forecasts by about 7 per cent on the back of the latest figures.