The Restaurant Group has revealed plans to expand its Frankie & Benny’s chain by 100 sites to a total of 250 across the UK over the next five years.

The group – which also owns the Chiquito, Blubeckers and Garfunkel’s brands – made the announcement as part of its half-year results, in which it reported a 30 per cent growth in pre-tax profits to £17.6m.

EBITDA rose 26 per cent to £30.3m in the 26 weeks ending 1 July, during which time the group added eight new sites to its 294-strong portfolio. The company expects to open a further eight restaurants by the end of the financial year.

Andrew Page, chief executive, said: “Our focus on the leisure and concessions markets continues to deliver great results for The Restaurant Group. Our business performed superbly during the first half with both divisions delivering significant increases in turnover and profits.

“Against a more demanding background for consumer-facing businesses, this is a credit to our team. With a strong start to the second half and an impressive pipeline of new sites, we are looking forward to another year of good progress.”

Alan Jackson, non-executive chair, added: “While recognising that we have some demanding comparatives for the second half of 2007, I am confident of reporting further good progress for the full year.”

The Restaurant Group also holds a minority shareholding of 38 per cent in Living Ventures, which owns the Est Est Est, Blackhouse Grill and Bar and Grill brands. The company suffered a £750,000 trading loss, despite Living Venture’s £28m sale of its Living Room business.