Restaurant Group to offload 35 underperforming sites

The Restaurant Group has said it will ditch about 35 uneconomic restaurants in its leisure unit as it seeks to whittle down its least successful businesses. The operator of the Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s announced the move alongside a three-year plan to reduce debt and improve margins. This is widely regarded as a riposte aimed at Oasis Management Company, an activist investor with a 6.5% stake. However, the modest scale of the disposals disappointed the market, which had been hoping the group might hint at a sale of its airport concessions and gastropubs. Shares of the company fell by almost 6½p, or 14.2 per cent, to close at 38¾p. Oasis had been pushing for a disposal of its Brunning & Price pub chain, valued at £250m. The Times (£)The FT (£)