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(Alliance News) - Greggs PLC on Tuesday reported a jump in half-year sales, as trading returned to pre-pandemic levels, and it maintained its payout to shareholders.
The Newcastle, England-based bakery chain also hired a new board chair.
For the six months that ended July 2, pretax profit was GBP55.8 million, 0.5% higher compared to GBP55.3 million a year before. This was on total sales of GBP694.5 million, up 27% versus GBP546.2 million.
Regarding its profit, Greggs noted that this half-year period benefited from a stronger sales contribution. However, the previous period profited from a temporary relief from business rates and reduced rates of value-added tax.
The company said sales were "encouraging" during the period, with sales patterns returning to more normalised levels in the second quarter.
"The breadth of the Greggs estate continues to provide geographical diversification as consumer behaviour adjusts coming out of the pandemic. Our strong presence in towns and suburbs, along with a growing portfolio of convenient roadside shops, has counter-balanced the slower recovery seen in large city centres and public transport hubs," Greggs said.
The company maintained its interim dividend of 15.0 pence.
Gregg said it is currently performing well, despite inflationary pressures.
In the four weeks to July 30, it recorded a 13% year-on-year increase in like-for-like sales in its managed shops.
Looking ahead, the FTSE 250 company backed its expectations for 2022.
"Clearly there are considerable uncertainties in the economy as a whole, but we continue to trade in line with our plan and are making good progress against our strategic objective to become a larger, multi-channel business. As such, the board's expectations for the full year outcome remain unchanged," Chief Executive Roisin Currie said.
In its 2021 annual results back in March, Greggs said it didn't expect "material profit progression" in 2022.
Separately, Greggs said it has appointed former Halfords Group PLC and Pets At Home Group PLC chief executive Matthew Davies as its new chair. He will succeed Ian Durant on November 1.
Davies worked as Halfords CEO from till 2015 from 2012 and at Pets at Home till 2012 from 2004. He also led Tesco PLC's UK & Ireland arm.
Shares in Greggs were up 2.4% at 2,128.00 pence each on Tuesday morning in London.
By Abby Amoakuh; abbyamoakuh@alliancenews.com
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