Struggling British restaurant chain PizzaExpress posted an 18 per cent drop in first-half profits today.
The group, the UK group that owns the Milano restaurant chain in the Republic, said trading conditions had not improved since then.
PizzaExpress said profit before tax and exceptional items fell to £17.8 million sterling (€26.95 million) in the six months to December 31st as stiff competition and the economic downturn kept customers away.
But despite a drop in profits and sales, it raised the first-half dividend by 20 per cent to three pence per share.
PizzaExpress said talks over possible takeover bids for the company, which include a management buyout proposal from Chief Executive Mr David Page, were "well advanced" and that it hoped to make another announcement soon.
Britain's restaurants have all been struggling with a downturn in consumer spending and a drop in inbound tourism after the September 2001 attacks on the United States.