Wagamama owner confident in trading performance in H1

The group flagged strong demand for consumers dining in.

The Restaurant Group delivered a ‘very encouraging’ 28 weeks year to date performance as dine-in trends gave the group’s business a huge boost.

Wagamama’s like-for-like sales increased by 5%.

“Wagamama has continued to trade strongly. Despite trading being temporarily impacted by the hot weather in late May and June, Wagamama still outperformed the market in Q2. Very encouragingly, dine-in covers are also in year-on-year growth. Our recent openings are trading ahead of expectations and we have confidence that our expansion plan will continue to deliver highly attractive returns for shareholders,” TRG said.

YTD like-for-like sales in its pub business saw a 9% increase. The Brunning & Price Pubs, which TRG owns, saw exceptional trading in H1 boosted by dine-in.

"B&P has continued its long-term trend of out-performing the market and the business has recently been recognised as the best Pub Group in the UK by the CGA PubTrack survey, further illustrating the core strength of the B&P proposition," TRG said. 

Tradings in its concessions business saw strong growth in H1, benefitting from the rapid recovery of passenger volumes and strong operational delivery leading to exceptionally strong LFL sales vs 2022.  The strength of the Concessions performance is further illustrated by comparing the trading run-rates against pre-Covid levels, with LFL sales versus 2019 up 3% in Q1, up 10% in Q2 and up 15% in Q3.

Meanwhile, cost of living pressures impacted the group's Leisure business which saw a 4% drop in YTD like-for-like sales. The group reiterated its plans to close approximately 35 sites by the end of this financial year.  The 35 sites include 8 freehold sites.

"The TRG Property team have made good progress in efficiently managing the disposal programme and protecting net cash.  We have seen encouraging levels of interest across both the freehold and leasehold disposal sites across a variety of alternative potential tenants and expect to have exited or sold the majority of the 35 sites by the end of FY24.  The Freehold sales are expected to generate approximately £8m to £10m of cash proceeds."

"Whilst we are pleased with the progress being made in delivering these medium-term plans, the Board has continued to review its wider strategic options with the assistance of independent advisors in order to examine the potential to accelerate TRG's deleveraging profile and further enhance EBITDA1 margin accretion.  In evaluating strategic options including potential disposals, the Board remains mindful that any transaction must be at attractive levels for shareholders and must reflect both the strength of current trading and the long-term prospects of our businesses."