The Restaurant Group faces fresh criticism over chief executive’s pay

A shareholder advisory group is the latest to question the pay packet of the Restaurant Group’s (TRG) boss Andy Hornby.

Glass Lewis, a proxy advisory firm, said it has “serious reservations” about the remuneration policy at the Wagamama and Frankie & Benny’s operator, the Times reports.

Hornby’s salary increased to £674,450 for 2023 and he receives an additional bonus based on performance.

Last month Oasis Capital Management, which has a 12.3% share in TRG, said Hornby’s pay was “disproportionate” and “tone deaf” as the share price had fallen by around 70% since he took over in 2019.

TRG owns more than 400 UK restaurants under brands including Frankie & Benny's, Chiquito, Coast to Coast, Firejacks, and Brunning and Price. It acquired Wagamama for £559m in 2018.

In March, the company said it planned to close up to 35 restaurants after pre-tax losses more than doubled to £86.8m, although the Wagamama brand will be unaffected.

The Times reports Glass Lewis has questioned TRG’s decision to pay Hornby a bonus despite the company “not meeting any of its financial targets”.

It said its concerns were “exacerbated by the misalignment between the wider stakeholder experience and executive pay”.

Glass Lewis has advised shareholders to vote against TRG’s remuneration report and policy at its annual meeting on 23 May.

New York-based Irenic Capital Management, which is understood to have around a 1% share in TRG, has also said it plans to vote against Hornby’s pay packet.

It called on TRG to focus on expanding Wagamama and sell off the rest of its brands.

TRG previously responded to the criticisms by stating it had “performed strongly” compared to the wider casual dining sector in recent years and said it was consulting with shareholders over pay.

Last week the company said trading in the first quarter of 2023 had been “very encouraging” with Wagamama sales up 9% on a like-for-like basis.

TRG said it had delivered £5m of incremental cost savings and planned to close a further 23 sites in its leisure division, which includes Frankie & Benny’s, Chiquito and Firejacks.