Report and Accounts 2009 / Re

RNS Number : 5562J

Restaurant Group PLC

31 March 2010

 



The Restaurant Group PLC

Report and Accounts for 2009, Circular to Shareholders dated 3 March 2010, Form of Proxy for use at the AGM in May 2010.

A copy of the above documents has been submitted to the UK Listing Authority and will shortly be available for inspection at the UK Listing Authority's Document Viewing Facility situated at:

Financial Services Authority, 25 The North Colonnade, Canary Wharf, London E14 5HS.

The Annual General Meeting of The Restaurant Group plc will take place on 6 May 2010.  The Interim Management Statement will also be made on 6 May 2010.

In accordance with the requirements of Rule 4.1 of the Disclosure and Transparency Rules the appendix to this announcement contains a description of principal risk factors and the Directors' responsibility statement which are extracted from the Annual Report and Accounts which have been distributed to shareholders today.

31 March 2010

Enquiries:

Robert Morgan                                                                  0845 612 5001

Company Secretary

Appendix:

The Restaurant Group plc - risk factors

Pages 21 and 22 of the Annual Report and Accounts include the following disclosures:

The Board of Directors regularly identify, monitor and manage potential risks and uncertainties to the Group. The list overleaf sets out what the Directors consider to be the current principal risks and uncertainties, with an overview of the mitigation process for these. This list is not presumed to be exhaustive and is, by its very nature, subject to change.

Nature of risk	Mitigation plans
Strategic / external risks
Adverse economic conditions and a decline in consumer confidence and spend in the UK	Regular monitoring of performance and appropriate action plans
Increased supply of new restaurant concepts into the market	Concentration on segments offering higher barriers to entry and good growth prospects; regular monitoring of performance and appropriate action plans
Impact of terrorism in key locations (including airports)	Contingency planning and training; liaison with authorities and landlords in key locations
Possible health pandemic that may cause customers to stay away or prevent restaurants being adequately staffed	Contingency planning and communication with employees
Lack of new site opportunities, and risks to existing Concession agreements	Dedicated property department focusing on new site development, strong relationships with Concessions partners
Operational risks
Failure to provide customers with brand-standard value for money offerings and service levels	Training, mystery diner visits, monitoring of customer feedback, internal quality control testing
Major failure of key suppliers to deliver products into restaurants	Contingency planning for supply chain and suppliers
Damage to our brands' images due to failures in environmental health compliance in the restaurants or from contamination of products	Training of restaurant and pub teams; detailed health and safety manual; regular internal and external auditing of all sites; auditing of supply chain and suppliers; health and safety incentives and awards
The loss of key personnel or failure to manage succession planning	Benchmarking of remuneration packages; analysis of staff turnover; performance appraisal and review system to retain existing talent; Long-Term Incentive Plan
Financial risks
Increase in prices of key raw materials (including foreign currency fluctuations), wages and overheads and utilities	Rolling programme of securing longer-term contracts to mitigate short-term pricing fluctuations; energy efficiency programme
Reversion of formerly sold or disposed leases following business failure of new occupiers	Monitoring of sub-let companies; ongoing relationships with property agents
Failure to meet banking covenants	Signed facility agreement, monthly monitoring of financial performance against covenant levels; banking relationships; significant levels of headroom against covenants
Compliance risks
Increased regulation of the food and beverage industry leading to higher costs	Monitoring of developments and liaison with external authorities such as the Food Standards Agency
Breakdown in internal controls through fraud or error, major failure of IT systems	Experienced staff in key roles; segregation of duties; internal and external audit processes; Audit Committee role
Changes to tax regime, including VAT, corporation tax and income tax	Ongoing monitoring in conjunction with external advisers

Page 28 of the Annual Report and Accounts includes the following disclosure:

Directors' responsibility statement

The Directors confirm that to the best of their knowledge:

1)   the financial statements, prepared in accordance with the applicable accounting standards, give a true and fair view of the assets, liabilities, financial position and profit of the Company and Group; and

2)   the Chairman's statement, the Chief Executive Officer's review of operations, Group Finance Director's report and report of the Directors include a fair review of the development and performance of the business and the position of the Company and Group, together with a description of the principal risks and uncertainties faced.

The Directors of The Restaurant Group plc at the time of signing the Annual Report and Account on 3 March 2010 were:

Alan Jackson
Andrew Page
Stephen Critoph
Trish Corzine
John Jackson
Tony Hughes

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