Greggs has reported like-for-like sales at its company-managed stores up 3.7% for the first 18 weeks of the year.
The company, which recorded total sales up 5.7% for the period to 7 May, said in common with wider conditions on the high street, March had seen softer trading before recovery in recent weeks.
It said recent improvements its menu were proving popular, in particular its hot sandwich range and extended breakfast menu while the introduction of a flat white coffee was helping to continue its delivery of double-digit growth in sales of hot drinks. Greggs has extended its fresh fruit offer and said it had been encouraged by trials of its upgraded range of salads.
In a statement ahead of its AGM tomorrow, Greggs said it had completed 55 shop refurbishments in the period of a target 200 for the year.
In the year to date the company has opened 43 new shops, including 23 franchised units in transport locations. It closed 21 shops, giving a total of 1,720 shops trading at 7 May (1,592 company-managed and 128 franchised units). It said shop openings continue to focus on new food-on-the-go locations and the relocation of existing shops to support further growth. In March Greggs opened its first company-managed shop in Northern Ireland, at Boucher Retail Park in Belfast. It said the shop was trading well and in the next few weeks it would open its first unit in central Belfast.
The company outlined the timeframe for the closure of the bakeries, with the smallest site at Sleaford now being closed and the Twickenham bakery expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2016 followed by Edinburgh in the second quarter of 2017.
On the outlook for the rest of the year, the company said: “We have made a good start to the year. Input cost inflation remains low despite increased wage costs and, with a strong pipeline of product initiatives and plans to invest in our shops and supply chain, we expect to make progress in line with our previous expectations.”
