Shares fall 8% at Chez Gerard

Shares in Groupe Chez Gerard dropped 8 per cent yesterday after the restaurant operator reported a slump in trading over Christmas.

"Steady consumer spending, rather than the exuberance of former years, typified the group's trading pattern during the period," the company said.

Sales, on a like-for-like basis in the six weeks to 5 January, were down 2 per cent – albeit an improvement on the 8 per cent fall in the year to 30 June.

The company said its 12 Chez Gerard French-style brasseries had put in a "particularly solid" performance over the Christmas period where like-for-like sales rose 2 per cent.

Nevertheless, as part of a programme to restore the company's fortunes by exiting underperforming sites, it said it had closed its Oxford Livebait fish restaurant. The company's shares fell 6p to 73p yesterday.