(Reuters) - Restaurant Group Plc (LON:RTN), the owner of Frankie & Benny's chain, on Wednesday reported a 26.4 percent fall in 2017 pretax profit as Britons spent less on eating and drinking out.
The company, which operates 498 restaurants and pubs in the UK under brands such as Chiquito and Coast To Coast, said underlying pretax profit fell to 56.7 million pounds in the year ended Dec. 31 from 77.1 million pounds last year.
Rising competition from food-focused pubs in recent years and a drop in visitors to retail shopping parks, where many of its outlets are located, have hit store footfall of Restaurant Group's brands.
The company in January said sales at outlets open over a year fell 3 percent, with revenue for the year declining 4.4 percent to 679.3 million pounds.
Analysts expected a pretax profit of 55.9 million pounds and revenue of 674.6 million pounds, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters.
The squeeze in spending from Britons on eating and drinking out has also weighed on the sales of the group, a trend which has been echoed by other operators in the sector including FTSE-100 leisure company Whitbread (LON:WTB).
In the face of slowing sales, Restaurant Group has rolled out menus, added value meal options, cut prices and included more options targeted at families.
"We expect to benefit from our strategic initiatives gaining further traction as the year progresses," the company said in a statement.
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