Frankie & Benny's owner to raise $242.7 million after posting wider loss

(Reuters) - Restaurant Group said on Wednesday it was planning to raise 175 million pounds ($242.7 million) through a share sale after the Frankie & Benny's owner posted a bigger loss due to a hit to its business from Britain's latest round of lockdowns.

The company posted an adjusted pre-tax loss of 87.5 million pounds for the year ended Dec. 27, compared with 47.9 pounds a year earlier and said its near-term outlook remained uncertain due to restrictions.

Restaurant Group has permanently shut 250 restaurants and cut around 3,000 jobs, highlighting the troubles in the hospitality industry.

"The Capital raise announced today, alongside the debt re-financing announced last week, represents the last important step in our re-structuring process," Chief Executive Officer Andy Hornby said.

While all of its sites are shut for dine-in, the company said its delivery and takeaway sales at Wagamama more than doubled from pre-pandemic levels for the four weeks ended February and were up five times for its leisure sites.

The company, which had last year raised around 57 million pounds to weather the crisis, said it would raise fresh funds by issuing 95.9 million new shares to investors at a price of 100 pence per share.

It will also issue 79.7 million new shares to existing shareholders by offering them five new shares for every 37 existing shares, also for 100 pence per share.

(Reporting by Tanishaa Nadkar in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D'Silva)