Greggs Regulatory News (GRG)

17 May 2005 12:00

Greggs PLC17 May 2005 17 May 2005 GREGGS plc CHAIRMAN'S AGM STATEMENT Greggs plc is the UK's leading retailer specialising in sandwiches, savouriesand other bakery products, with a particular focus on takeaway food andcatering. It has over 1,250 retail outlets throughout the UK, trading under theGreggs and Bakers Oven brands. At the Annual General Meeting held in Newcastle upon Tyne today, the ChairmanDerek Netherton said: "We have made an encouraging start to the year, despite the generallydisappointing retail market place and its consequences for high street footfall. Group like-for-like sales in the 19 weeks to 14 May 2005 have grown by 5.8%,compared with the increase of 5.2% that we reported in our preliminary resultsannouncement for the period to mid-March. The recent improvement in performancepartly reflects comparison with a period of poorer weather last year. So far this year we have opened 19 new shops and closed two, making a netaddition of 17 units to a Group total of 1,280. We are confident of meeting ourtarget to increase the pace of shop openings this year, and expect to add atleast a net 45 shops to our estate by the end of 2005. From this point last year we enjoyed considerably stronger like-for-like salesgrowth than in the first 19 weeks, as we benefited from the successful Greggsbrand relaunch and generally favourable weather. This in turn creates moretesting comparatives in the months ahead. We also face further inflationarypressures in the second half, notably a further substantial rise in energycosts. Despite these factors, I look forward to reporting a very satisfactoryperformance when we announce our interim results in August, and continue tobelieve that the Group is well equipped to make progress over the year as awhole." ENQUIRIES:Greggs plc gcg hudson sandlerSir Michael Darrington, Managing Director James Hill / Wendy BakerMalcolm Simpson, Financial Director Tel: 020 7796 4133Tel: 0191 281 7721 keithhann.communications Keith Hann Tel: 07831 521870 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange