SIR Royalty Income Fund is reinstating its distribution payments, as the restaurant group prepares for business to ramp up with the easing of COVID-19 restrictions.

The fund, through its ownership of SIR Corp., boasts a portfolio of 53 restaurants, including Jack Astor’s Bar and Grill as well as Canyon Creek. It suspended its payout to unitholders in March of last year at the onset of the pandemic.

As of July 30, SIR will resume a distribution of $0.07 per unit. As recently as September 2019, the fund paid out $0.10 per unit.

“The pandemic has been the greatest challenge that SIR has faced and the fund's unitholders have also been impacted,” said Peter Fowler, chief executive officer of SIR Corp., in a release.

“We thank the fund's unitholders for their ongoing support and we look forward to ongoing unitholder distributions as SIR's operations continue to ramp up."  

SIR’s announcement comes on the same day Canada’s most populous province permits indoor dining once again after a long hiatus, as Ontario enters step 3 of its reopening plan.

Earlier this week, Keg Royalties Income Fund also reinstated its distribution citing an uptick in business.