The chief executive and chief financial officer of Restaurant Group (RTN) have both acquired stock with a combined value of over £220,000 as part of a deferred bonus schemes.
The company, which owns Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s, said under its bonus scheme, half of any annual bonus payable to executive directors each year was deferred into ordinary shares and held in escrow by its employee benefit trust.
Chief executive Andy Hornby purchased 247,585 shares, while chief financial officer Kirk Davis acquired 116,502 shares. Both trades were executed at a price of 61.3p. The nominal values of the transactions are £151,924 and £71,488 respectively.
In Restaurant Group’s recent full year results presentation (March 16), the group announced full year profit at the top end of guidance and said that current trading remained ‘strong’ as it continued to outperform the market
Revenue for the year ended 2 January jumped 38.5% to £636.6 million driven by strong trading from 17 May when physical sites reopened.
On a like-for-like basis all group division outperformed the market with Wagamama up 15% compared with market growth of 7%.
The company has a healthy pipeline of new openings planned for 2022 and the following years. This year it expects to open between seven and nine new Wagamama’s, four to five delivery kitchens and three new pubs.
BODYCOTE: NON-EXECUTIVE ACQUIRES SHARES
FTSE 250 engineering company Bodycote (BOY) said non-executive director Daniel Dayan had acquired 16,000 shares at a price of 635p. The transaction is valued at £101,600.
Recent results (14 March) were disappointing with revenue ahead by 3% to £616 million, which was below analysts’ consensus. Earnings per share of 35.8p, were also shy of a consensus analyst forecast of 36.7p.
Another issue for the group has been the delayed recovery in both the automotive and aerospace industries.
This was reflected in the divisional performance. While the industrial segment grew by 14 per cent, aerospace and defence revenue declined by 7 per cent on an organic basis and remains a third lower than in 2019.
Automotive revenue was 9% per cent higher on a year-on-year basis, but it remains 13% below 2019 levels. The global shortage of chips continues to be the principal issue impacting production.
