Results round-up

Restaurant Group swung to a pre-tax loss in the first half on the back of restructuring costs, while like-for-like sales fell and the company announced the closure of 33 outlets.

In the 27 weeks ended 3 July, the group posted a loss before tax of £22.5m compared to a pre-tax profit of £38m the year before.

Meanwhile, like-for-like sales were down 3.9%, and Restaurant Group said it plans to exit 33 underperforming sites immediately as it reckons they are incapable of generating adequate returns.

The outlets include 14 Frankie & Benny's, 11 Chiquito sites and eight others.

The company said it has made an exceptional charge of £39.3m in the period including an impairment of fixed assets, provision for onerous leases and other associated costs as a result of this decision.

The interim dividend was maintained at 6.8p per share, which the group said reflected confidence in its current trading forecast.

Strong performances in France and Germany drove a 2.8% rise in Computacenter´s revenues at the half-year stage to £1.48bn.

However, management said business conditions in the UK were "challenging", with a reduction in services volumes driving a drop in that segment´s margins.

Mike Norris, Computacenter´s boss, commented: "The first half of 2016 finished slightly better than we had anticipated at the time of our Q1 Trading Update in April 2016, mainly due to the better performance of Computacenter in France."

In adjusted terms, profits before tax for the six-month stretch ending 30 June were off 13.1% to £25.3m and by 66.6% at the statutory level to reach £23.6m. Cash on the other hand shot higher by 115% to £96.6m.

"Despite the challenging market conditions in the UK referred to in our Q1 2016 Trading Update, as well as planned investments, the Board expects the full year to show modest progress in our adjusted profit before tax1, as compared to 2015 after allowing for the £3 million benefit from the one-off gain realised in the comparative period," Norris added.