Greggs Regulatory News (GRG)

13 Jan 2010 07:00



13 January 2010

GREGGS plc

TRADING UPDATE

Greggs is the leading bakery retailer in the UK,

 with over 1,400 retail outlets throughout the country

 serving freshly baked products to over a million customers each day

STRONG CHRISTMAS SALES PERFORMANCE

Highlights

*  four weeks ending 26 December 2009

**  53 weeks ending 2 January 2010 versus 52 weeks ending 27 December 2008

*** like-for-like growth figures are against equivalent 53 weeks of prior year

Over the four week Christmas trading period to 26 December 2009 total sales grew by 3.1 per cent and like-for-like sales grew by 1.1 per cent against strong comparatives in the prior year. We sold more than a million mince pies each week, up 6.0 per cent on last year, helped by the successful launch of our new Viennese mince pie.

Christmas week itself saw a very strong performance, with like-for-like sales up 4.4 per cent. We served 250,000 more customers than in the comparable week last year. Demand for savouries was particularly strong, with like-for-like sales in this category increasing by 10.0 per cent. We sold more than two million of our Christmas festive bakes, an increase of 23 per cent on last year. 

For our financial year as a whole, total sales increased by 5.0 per cent (including a 1.6 per cent contribution from the 53rd week) and like-for-like sales increased by 0.8 per cent.

As planned, during the year the Group opened 49 new shops and closed 39, making a net addition of 10 new shops and a total of 1,419 at 2 January 2010.

Chief Executive Ken McMeikan commented: "I am very pleased with our sales performance, particularly over Christmas, in what has remained a challenging trading environment for the high street. We expect to report results in line with expectations when we make our preliminary results announcement on 18 March 2010.

"The severe winter weather across the country has naturally brought particular challenges at the beginning of 2010. We are grateful for the enormous determination shown by our staff to maintain our service to customers under these testing conditions.

"We remain positive about our growth opportunities as we begin our programme of accelerated expansion to make the unique Greggs proposition accessible to many more consumers throughout the UK. We expect to add a net 50-60 new shops during the year, funding this growth and continued investment in our supply chain from our strong operating cash flow."