Greggs upbeat on sales
Comparisons tougher as year progresses
Retail baker Greggs has seen a boost to sales at the start of its financial year, but is warning that comparative sales growth will be harder to achieve as the year progresses.
Like-for-like sales for the 19 weeks to May 14 are up 5.8 per cent, an increase on the 5.2 per cent reported for the period to mid-March.
Chairman Derek Netherton told shareholders at the annual meeting: “‘We have made an encouraging start to the year, despite the generally disappointing retail market place.The recent improvement in performance partly reflects comparison with a period of poorer weather last year.”
So far this year, 19 new shops have opened and two closed, bringing the group total to 1,280. Greggs expects to add at least 45 shops to the chain by the end of 2005.
Sounding a cautious note, Netherton warned: “From this point last year we enjoyed considerably stronger like-for-like sales growth than in the first 19 weeks, as we benefited from the successful Greggs brand relaunch and generally favourable weather.
“This in turn creates more testing comparatives in the months ahead. We also face further inflationary pressures in the second half, notably a further substantial rise in energy costs.
“Despite these factors, I look forward to reporting a very satisfactory performance when we announce our interim results in August, and continue to believe that the group is well equipped to make progress over the year as a whole.”
