RESULTS > FRIDAY 27 FEBRUARY > FINALS - Restaurant Group (RTN) 730.5p

Investors will be expecting positive final results from Restaurant Group (RTN) in the wake of data which suggests restaurants performed well over the festive period. Like-for-like sales at restaurant chains rose by 4.7% with particularly strong growth outside of London, according to the Coffer Peach Business Tracker. Restaurant Group, which operates over 400 restaurants across the UK including Frankie & Benny’s, Chiquito and Garfunkel’s, saw sales rise by 5% over the two weeks to 4 January. Numis forecasts a 7% rise in profit before tax to £77.8 million which is a good result given that cinema attendance fell by 4.9% last year. Half of the group’s sites are located next to cinemas. Prospects for the £1.45 billion cap look strong as cinema attendance is forecast to increase by between 5% and 10% in 2015 on the back of films like Fifty Shades of Grey and new films in the Star Wars, James Bond and Jurassic Park series. (EP)