The woes afflicting midmarket restaurants will be underlined today when the company behind Café Rouge and Bella Italia reports a £242m loss in the wake of a financial restructuring.
Accounts due to be filed by Casual Dining Group include a £209.6m goodwill writedown reflecting the fall in the value of the business because of soaring costs and tough trading conditions.
As part of the refinancing in August, the group was sold to KKR, a private equity company, for a “nominal consideration”, £50m of its debt was converted to equity and £52m to expensive payment-in-kind loans.
