The Restaurant Group burns through £5.5m a month despite jump in takeaway orders
The Wagamama owner also secured a fresh loan.
The Restaurant Group (TRG), which owns the Wagamama, Frankie & Benny’s and Garfunkel’s chains, warned it is burning through £5.5m a month in the latest COVID-19 lockdown despite a jump in takeaway orders.
The company said it had secured another loan worth £500 million that would assist in consolidating its debt and give it a larger financial cushion as it prepares to reopen the rest of its sites once restrictions ease.
Average delivery orders in the first three weeks of February were two and a half times higher than before the pandemic, whilst takeaway sales were five times higher.
The Restaurant Group kept roughly half of its 400 of its sites running during the latest lockdown, primarily its Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s brands. However, current restrictions see the group burning through £5.5 million worth of cash every four weeks and would continue losing cash at a similar rate until rules are lifted.
“With this strong operating platform in place, the group has good capability to deliver an accelerated reopening plan for dine-in trading, once the current restrictions for hospitality businesses end, with all viable sites being reopened within two weeks,” said the group, which is scheduled to publish full-year results on 10 March.
