WAGAMAMA and Frankie & Benny's owner The Restaurant Group has named former HBOS boss Andy Hornby as its new chief executive.
Mr Hornby will replace Andy McCue, with a start date due to be confirmed.
It comes as the group grapples with a tricky eating out market and following its £559 million takeover of noodle chain Wagamama, which formally completed in December, bringing almost 200 branches into the group's portfolio.
Restaurant Group revealed recently that pre-tax profits more than halved to £13.9m in 2018 compared with £28.2m in 2017 after higher costs relating to store closures and the Wagamama deal.
Mr Hornby said: "I recognise that this sector of the market faces considerable challenges, but The Restaurant Group has a set of casual dining and pub brands that offer significant potential."
Having previously led Coral, Mr Hornby has recently acted as co-chief operating officer at gambling giant GVC, which bought out Ladbrokes Coral in March 2018.
He was also previously group chief executive of Alliance Boots from 2009 to 2011, before which he held the same role at HBOS bank.
Debbie Hewitt, chairwoman of The Restaurant Group, said: "Andy's extensive retail background, proven hands-on operational expertise, and experience of integrating businesses position him well to provide the leadership required to deliver the next phase of our strategy."
The Restaurant Group has more than 650 sites across the UK, with other brands including Chiquito and Brunning & Price.
Shares in Metro Bank tanked after the lender revealed the impact of a major accounting error and subsequent investor cash call in what it described as a "challenging" first quarter.
The high-street lender's shares plunged over 15 per cent in morning trade after it unveiled a dismal set of first quarter figures late on Wednesday, before recovering to 11% lower at 688p.
In January, Metro flagged that it had miscalculated the risk weighting of commercial loans secured on property and certain specialist buy-to-let loans.
It later unveiled a £350 million cash call to make up for the shortfall on its balance sheet.
The share price collapse comes off the back of fresh figures showing quarter-on-quarter deposit growth was affected by some major customers withdrawing during the fallout from the debacle, resulting in a 3.6% reduction.
Gambling giant Paddy Power Betfair has seen revenues jump by almost a fifth, on the back of soaring online gaming growth.
Revenues rose 17% to £478 million for the three months to March 31.
Online gaming revenues surged 31% to £76 million, driven by the "strong growth" of Paddy Power's online games.
The FTSE 100 company was also buoyed by "excellent" international growth in its US and Australian markets, where revenues jumped by 47% and 20% respectively.
However, the group said its UK online sports betting business was affected by "unfavourable results" in sporting events in the UK and Ireland. Online sport revenues slipped 6% to £152 million.
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