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Restaurant Group chief to retire

Restuarant Group chief executive will leave the group this August.
January 21, 2014

Long-serving chief executive Andrew Page will leave Restaurant Group (RTN) this August. His 12-year tenure saw him push the group into the FTSE 250 after the City had written it off as desperately in need of a re-structuring.

622p

The departure was revealed 10 days after the group announced robust Christmas trading across its portfolio of high street restaurants, which include budget-friendly chains Frankie & Benny's and Chiquito. Full-year results due in March, will beat City forecasts with like-for-like sales growth of 9 per cent.

The group confirmed it had opened 35 new sites last year, beating 2012, and has a bullish target for a further 36 to 43 new branches in 2014. Despite the rapid pace of expansion, management says that trading at all the new sites is "excellent" and will deliver positive returns from the start.

We previously identified risks in the sector, including margin pressure and rent inflation following a rapid expansion phase. However, it is hard to argue with such strong trading from Restaurant Group and it seems that a contraction in the independent restaurant sector is offsetting the expansion of chains, resulting in stationary supply levels.