Greggs continued to trade well over the third quarter of 2022, reporting total sales up 14.6%.
Like-for-like sales in company-managed shops rose by 9.7% when compared with the same period in 2021.
Year-on-year growth moderated in August given the strong ‘staycation’ effect seen in 2021, however, momentum returned in September.
Greggs closed its shops on 19 September for the funeral of HM The Queen and this impacted reported LFL sales growth for the third quarter by around one percentage point.
In the year to date, the bakery retailer opened 106 new shops and closed 16 shops, giving a total of 2,271 shops trading at 1 October 2022 (comprising 1,860 company-managed shops and 411 franchised units).
Openings in the third quarter included two drive thru sites in Amesbury and Durham and railway locations at Tottenham Hale and London’s Liverpool Street Station.
For the year as a whole, Greggs expects around 150 net openings, of which around 40% are planned to be with franchise partners.
In September the company commissioned a new automated pizza manufacturing line at its Enfield site, which will support further growth in this category, as well as lowering production costs.
Some of development plans scheduled for 2022 are now likely to move into 2023, meaning capital expenditure in 2022 is expected to be around £120m (previously expected to be £170m) with the difference being deferred to 2023.
As previously announced, Matt Davies, currently chair designate, will succeed Ian Durant as chair of the board of Greggs on 1 November 2022.
The company said Durant has led the board through a transformational period for Greggs and, alongside the improved performance of the business, has championed significant improvements in diversity and gender balance at senior levels.
The outlook for cost inflation for the year remains consistent with previous guidance of c.9% overall like-for-like cost inflation in 2022, and the company said it now holds an appropriate level of forward purchasing cover for its key food and energy commodities in the fourth quarter.
The business said it also hold “significant energy cover” for the first quarter of 2023, with average costs expected to be below the level of the recently-announced price cap.
“Greggs continues to trade well in an environment where cost pressures are significant and our outstanding value-for-money positioning is ever-more important to consumers,” the financial statement concluded.
“There remains considerable uncertainty in the economy as a whole but we continue to trade in line with our plan and currently expect the full year outcome to be in line with our previous expectations.”
