Bakery and cafe giant, Greggs has today published Interim Results for 26 weeks ending 3 July showing that the group has bounced back following the pandemic disruption.
Total sales came to £546.2m, up from £300.6m in 2020 and almost back to pre-pandamic figure in 2019 of £546.3m.
Underlying pre-tax profit/(loss) stood at £55.5m, up on the 2019 result of £40.7m.
Operational and strategic development
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Shop opening pipeline: 48 new shops opened in first half, 11 closures; 2,115 shops as at 3 July 2021. 100 new shop openings in total for 2021; to create 500 new retail jobs in second half.
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New channels: delivery service now available from 837 shops; delivery sales represented 8.5% of company-managed shop sales in the first half of 2021.
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New Greggs Rewards app: this was launched offering customer rewards across the full range of purchases.
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New product development: continued to drive menu development, including an expanded range of vegan-friendly products and options for other diets and dayparts.
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Investment in supply chain: new automated frozen distribution facility commenced operation.
CEO Roger Whiteside OBE (pictured) said, “Greggs once again showed its resilience in a challenging first half, emerging from the lockdown months in a strong position and rebuilding sales as social restrictions were progressively relaxed.
“We continue to make good progress with our strategic priorities, growing the shop estate and investing in our digital capabilities to compete in all channels and dayparts of our market.
“Whilst there continue to be general uncertainties in the market, given our recent performance we now expect full year profit to be slightly ahead of our previous expectation.”