nk1999
08 Mar 2018
Liberum "Liberum: Restaurant Group ‘severely undervalued’Restaurant Group (RTN) is in a better position than last year and although it has further to go, Liberum believes it is ‘severely undervalued’.Analyst Wayne Brown retained his ‘buy’ recommendation and target price of 430p on the owner of Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito restaurant chains.‘The scale of the heavy-lifting in 2017 should not be underestimated,’ he said. ‘Restaurant Group is in a substantially better position now than this time last year. The fact full-year 2017 has come in marginally ahead of expectations and full-year dividend maintained is testament to management’s decisive actions.’He said there was more investment to come in technology, site refresh and increased openings and the ‘market backdrop remains tough and given the timing of the price investments, full-year 2018 will have a second half bias’."(From Citywire)
JohnyCash
11 Sep 2017
Recovery far from assured -ShareCast) Restaurant Group recovery is far from assured, Berenberg believes(ShareCast News) - It will be tough for Restaurant Group to deliver a sustained improvement in performance as cost and competition pressures continues to build, said Berenberg as it reiterated a 'sell' recommendation on the shares.Recent results from the owner of Frankie & Benny's and Garfunkel's were upbeat as early-stage restructuring of the company led to a 2.2% decline in like-for-like sales in the first half of the year.This was taken fairly well by the market but Berenberg noted that the company benefited from a number of external tailwinds, the period only included a few weeks of the new lower priced menu at Frankie & Benny's and other brand repositioning still to take place."Therefore, with the tailwinds unlikely to be as significant during the remainder of the year and prices at Chiquito set to be reduced over the next few months, we think the decline in LFL sales could accelerate," analysts wrote, seeing a negative effect from lower prices well into 2018 too.EBIT margin declined 260 basis points in the first six months of the year as negative LFL growth and a variety of external headwinds hit profitability, though management expects to invest the £10m of cost savings and more into price, products and marketing.Downside risks are seen as cost pressures are likely to continue squeezing margins more significant in the second half, with the situation little changed next year.A highly competitive market is a further concern: "The CGA Peach Coffer business tracker shows that site additions continue to contribute circa 3 percentage points of the eating-out market's growth. The increase in sites is driven both by brands that have been around for many years continuing to expand, but also by newer brands that have quickly gained a sizeable foothold in the market. As such, we think that, in more attractive locations, competition is only becoming more intense."My new target price: 250pJC
JohnyCash
29 Aug 2017
Re: Sold final tranche ........ "Will consider buying back in at circa 310p..."Well, I had my opportunity this morning, but Peel Hunt downgrade has persuaded me not to get back in just yet.They could be cheaper after this Thursday's H1 resultsJC
JohnyCash
31 Jul 2017
Re: Sold final tranche ........ "My funds now in RBG as a recovery stock (Hopefully)"---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ------[link] Jubbly...........
JohnyCash
27 Jun 2017
Re: Sold final tranche ........ Will consider buying back in at circa 310p...JC
nk1999
07 Jun 2017
Telegraph- Questor "Restaurant Group investors should keep their seat at the table as recovery picks up: In the case of Restaurant Group, the owner of Frankie & Benny’s, the shares rose by 10% in a day on news that sales had fallen less quickly than analysts had expected when the company released a trading update late last month. In the first 20 weeks of this year sales fell across the group by 1.8% on a like-for-like basis, a much lower rate of decline than the 3.9% drop suffered in 2016 (and the 5.9% slide seen in the fourth quarter of last year alone). This offers encouragement that Mr. McCue can turn the group around. The firm has very little debt and banking covenants are under no threat, so time is on the side of both management and investors. In the latter’s case, an unchanged full-year dividend of 17.4p equates to a 4.7% yield, so they are being paid to wait to see how this transitional year for the group develops, while analysts’ forecasts of a second straight 19% fall in underlying earnings per share suggest that expectations are still low. The restaurant business is a cut-throat one but the strong balance sheet provides room for manoeuvre and the early signs are promising. Questor says ‘Hold’."
nk1999
27 May 2017
JP Morgan Cazenove "JPMorgan Cazenove upgraded Restaurant Group to 'overweight' from 'neutral' and lifted the price target to 380p from 340p following the company's first-quarter update on Friday, as it now sees upside to the share price.The shares have lost 17% since 10 March and the stock is now trading at 6.7x FY2018 EV/EBITDA, which appears too cheap, JPM said.It said the group "has had a better start to 2017 than many in the market may have expected". Like-for-like sales in the first 20 weeks were down 1.8%, but this is a better run-rate than the 4% drop in LFLs the bank had expected and continues to expect for 2017 as a whole.JPM said sales were supported by three tailwinds so far this year: strong growth in UK passenger numbers which has boosted the performance of the concessions business; good weather, especially in April and late May, which has supported the pubs business; and strong cinema admissions, which have helped the leisure business.However, JPM does not expect these tailwinds to continue and reckons the full effect of the company's investment in pricing will only be felt in the second half of the year."From ADVFN.
JohnyCash
27 May 2017
Sold final tranche ........ ........On Friday to take advantage of SP increase. Bullish broker comment and Q1 sales held up well, but too many uncertainty's for me. Menus not yet sorted imho, both in respect of pricing and choice.My funds now in RBG as a recovery stock (Hopefully)I hope RTN does well and good luck to all holders.....JC
Triggers broom
21 Apr 2017
Re: RNS. CFO Steps down Always a bit worrying when the head bean counter leaves but we don't know if it was jumping ship or walking the plank.Market doesn't seem too fussed - down ~1.3% at the mo.I'll hold and hope the new CEO delivers his restructuring plan.
JohnyCash
21 Apr 2017
RNS. CFO Steps down It'll be interesting to see how this unfolds. One can only speculate in the meantime, but clearly unplanned as the Company don't appear to have a replacement lined up. Or do they?!Positive move I hopeJC
Triggers broom
25 Mar 2017
Frankie & Benny's Just been to our local F&B and was firstly pleased to see it rammed and secondly now offering a simple menu without all of the multiple, often conflicting, special offers they used to do. I was surprised by some of the prices though but presumably this will only benefit the profit margin.Maybe the new management have started to turn this around.
Triggers broom
25 Mar 2017
Frankie & Benny's Just been to our local F&B and was firstly pleased to see it rammed and secondly now offering a simple menu without all of the multiple, often conflicting, special offers they used to do. I was surprised by some of the prices though but presumably this will only benefit the profit margin.Maybe the new management have started to turn this around.
commercia
26 Jan 2017
Re: Deutsche close to 290 now. challenging times ahead in the near term. im interested sub 290
philanderer
09 Dec 2016
Re: Deutsche Deutsche Bank obviously haven`t read that Questor article . 
nk1999
08 Dec 2016
Deutsche "Deutsche Bank initiated coverage of JD Wetherspoon and The Restaurant Group at 'sell' and price targets of 600p and 290p respectively, in a note on pubs groups on Thursday.With the outlook for the UK pubs and restaurant sector is uncertain and assumptions for next year becoming more cautious due to worries about consumer spending, Deutsche saw future pressure on both sales and profits and called time on the sector for now.Noting that JD Wetherspoon's margins are an outcome of the company's sales activity and that its low cost model relative to peers is the "more susceptible to cost inflation", with food and staff cost inflation likely headwinds, along with business rates.The ongoing competitive operating environment is highlighted by JDW's reduced new openings programme.Casting its eye over The Restaurant Group, the arrival of a new CEO with significant multi-site retail experience is "reassuring", but there are multiple threats to the rating and earnings resurrection."Trading weakness in the core format; ongoing roll-out despite format underperformance; increased competition in leisure/retail parks driven by landlords seeking to fulfill consumer's wider-ranging aspirations; the cost of regaining lost customers; and, increased costs," said the note.The bank is also concerned that the company's the core format, Frankie & Benny's, will continue to struggle as the market moves from being competitive due to increased supply, to competitive from lower consumer spending, which could lead to earning downgrades and sites closures.DB's estimates are some 10% below consensus, reflecting its greater caution around the delivery of a turnaround and minimal recovery in the full year of 2017.DB also initiated pubs Marston and Mitchells & Butlers at 'hold' with price targets of 145p and 245p respectively. It reiterated its 'buy' recommendations on Greene King and Enterprise Inns but lowered its price target for the former to 875p from 950p and maintained its price target of 170p for the latter."From ADVFN.
