FDBusiness.com

Greggs, the UK’s largest retail baker, increased total group sales in the 26 weeks ended 3rd July 2010 by 2.9% to £321m as like-for-like sales advanced by 0.7%, in line with expectations of marginally positive like-for-like sales growth over the year. Operating profit rose by 13.1% to £18.5 million but the underlying increase was 4% with net margin remaining stable.

Profit before taxation grew 12.3% to £18.6m with no exceptional items during the period. Greggs opened 26 new shops during the first half and closed eight, making a net increase of 18 since the beginning of its financial year, taking its total to 1,437 outlets.

Greggs is continuing to make good progress with its strategy of increasing its accessibility to consumers through its shop opening programme, investing in its bakeries for greater efficiency and capacity for growth and realising the benefits of a strong, centrally run business.

Ken McMeikan, chief executive of Greggs.

“We have delivered a resilient first half performance under challenging conditions,” says Ken McMeikan, chief executive of Greggs. “Our accelerated shop opening and refit programmes are progressing as planned, and delivering encouraging early results. We are now set to commence the first phase of our supply chain investment programme.”

He continues: “The pressure on the trading environment looks likely to increase in the second half and we remain focused on managing costs tightly. We now expect an increase in ingredient cost inflation in the second half of the year, following the recent rise in wheat prices. Despite the challenging trading environment, I believe that Greggs remains on track to deliver another year of progress.”