BUSINESS LIVE: TRG to sell loss-making Frankie & Benny’s unit

John Lewis is set to report another loss this week as new chief executive Nish Kankiwala unveils his first set of results since taking the helm at the struggling retailer.

Britain’s biggest employee-owned business, which includes the John Lewis department stores and grocer Waitrose, has been hit hard by a triple whammy of the pandemic, rampant inflation and the cost-of-living squeeze. Kankiwala is expected to announce lower losses in the six months to July compared with the £99 million shortfall posted for the same period a year ago.

Vistry Group will merge its affordable housing ‘Partnerships’ business with its Housebuilding operations.

The housebuilder told investors of its plans as it retained its annual profit forecast, buoyed by resilient demand in cheap homes segment.

Vistry, one of the biggest British housebuilders in terms of annual homes built, posted adjusted pre-tax profit of £174million for the six months ended 30 June, compared with £189.9million a year earlier.

BMW will announce plans to build its next-generation electric Mini in Oxford after securing a Government funding package.

The German-headquartered manufacturer’s multi-million pound investment to transform its existing plant will secure 4,000 high-quality jobs, according to ministers.

Government sources declined to set out the level of taxpayer support being offered to BMW, but did not dispute the previously reported figure of £75million.

The Restaurant Group has agreed to sell its loss-making leisure business, which houses the Frankie & Benny’s and Chiquito brands, to Cafe Rouge owner Big Table Group.

TRG will pay £7.5miliion to Big Table as part of the deal.

Andy Hornby, CEO of TRG, said:

‘A sale of our Leisure business significantly accelerates our medium-term strategic plans to increase Adjusted EBITDA margins and reduce leverage.

‘On behalf of TRG, I would like to express our massive thanks to the extraordinarily hardworking and dedicated teams across the Leisure business who have made huge improvements in the customer proposition over the last few years. We wish them all well as part of the Big Table Group.’