Restaurant Group sales up but may delay new openings

LONDON (Reuters) - Restaurant Group (RTN.L) said on Thursday like-for-like sales rose 2.5 percent in the year to November 9 and said it may delay new openings in 2009 due to pressures on consumers and higher input costs.

The group, which runs restaurant chains such as Frankie & Benny's, Chiquito and Garfunkel's, said in a trading statement its turnover growth in the 45 weeks to the end of November increased by 16 percent compared with the same period in 2007.

For 2008 as a whole, Restaurant Group said it expected full-year results to be in line with the company's own expectations.

Full-yearpre-tax profit for the year to end-December is expected to be 45.29 million pounds, according to a Reuters estimate of 17 analysts. Having opened 29 new restaurants this year, the company said new developments for 2009 and 2010 may be delayed due to the challenging real estate environment.

Restaurant Group owns around 300 restaurants and has a market capitalisation of about 225 million pounds compared with rivals Punch Taverns (PUB.L) and JD Wetherspoon (JDW.L) with market values of 405 million and 390 million respectively.

(Reporting by Martina Fuchs and Farah Master)