Member Article

Greggs reveals 5.2% sales rise ahead of full yearly results

Newcastle-headquartered Greggs has revealed a 5.2% total increase in sales for 2015, although like-for-like sales growth slowed to 2.3% in the fourth quarter.

Despite this, company-managed shop like-for-like sales grew by 4.7% across 2015 as a whole, giving the food retailer good cause to celebrate.

During its trickier fourth quarter, the firm said it came up against stronger comparatives and was also hindered by the impact of weaker footfall in some of its shopping locations. Nevertheless, sales over the Christmas period were in line with the overall trend for the fourth quarter.

Releasing a trading update this morning, Greggs revealed that sales growth was particularly strong in sandwiches and drinks, including the healthier ‘Balanced Choice’ range including new salads and ‘no added sugar’ drinks.

Seasonal favourites such as our award-winning mince pies and Festive Bake reportedly made a strong contribution to sales over the Christmas and New Year period, as expected.

During the year the company opened 122 new shops (including 61 franchised units) and closed 74, growing the estate to 1,698 shops trading as at 2 January 2016. Greggs now has 105 franchised shops operated by partners in travel and other convenience locations.

Moreover, in 2015, we completed 222 shop refurbishments including the conversion of 20 of its larger bakery cafés to the “bakery food-on-the-go” format. The firm said that this transformational programme continues to go well and it will invest at a similar rate in the year ahead.

Roger Whiteside, Chief Executive, said: “2015 saw us deliver another excellent year of progress as we continue to transform Greggs into a modern, well-invested food-on-the-go retailer.

“We anticipate that we will report full year results for 2015 in line with our previous expectations. In the year ahead we will continue with the implementation of our strategic plan to enable the business to compete more effectively in the food-on-the-go market.”

Greggs will report its full year results, in line with its previous expectations, in a preliminary announcement on 1 March 2016.