Frankie & Benny’s operator The Restaurant Group (TRG) reported strong results for the 27 weeks to July, with adjusted pre-tax profits up 13% to £24.6m on sales of £229m (2009: £210m).

TRG, whose figures were bolstered by adding an extra week, comparing results against a 26-week period last year, said sales growth was driven by the opening of four new restaurants that are ‘performing superbly’.

The fully listed company, which in addition to operating 1950s American/Italian chain Frankie and Benny’s runs Mexican outlet Chiquito and British food restaurant Garfunkel’s, highlighted strong growth in its flagship Frankie and Benny’s outlets, where revenues, profits and margins all grew, although no segmented breakdown was provided.

Growth in profits and sales for its headline chain, of which TRG operates 189 units in the UK, was ‘a particularly credible result as trade was adversely affected by the period during the World Cup’. Meanwhile Garfunkel’s, of which TRG operates 23 units, was described as delivering ‘very significant growth in revenues, profits and margins’, with only Chiquito (64 units) disappointing, reporting a fall in profits.

During the half, TRG managed to pare net debt by £1.1m to £65.6m, while investors were also cheered by news of a 10% increase in the interim dividend to 1.54p (2009: 1.4p).

Operating at the more price-conscious end of the restaurant business, TRG has defied naysayers who predicted that consumers would stop eating out, growing profits and sales year-on-year since 2006.

Analysts at Altium are forecasting a 4% rise in pre-tax profits to £52m this year, on sales of £452.9m, with a dividend of 9.1p expected. Trading on just under 15 times earnings, the shares are worth tucking into.