GREGGS plc
INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
FOR THE 14 WEEKS TO 6 OCTOBER 2012
Greggs is the leading bakery retailer in the UK with over 1,600 shops throughout the country,
serving freshly baked food to six million customers each week
NEW CHANNELS PROVIDING GROWTH IN TOUGH CONDITIONS
- Total sales up 5.9% for the 14 weeks to 6 October 2012
- New channels contributing 3.5% to total sales growth
- Like-for-like sales down 2.6%
- 'Bake at home' sales through Iceland continue to perform strongly
- New motorway services shops opened in partnership with Moto
- Net 70 new shops opened year to date, ahead of expectations
"Total sales grew by 5.9 per cent year-on-year in the 14 weeks to 6 October 2012, driven by our strong new shop opening programme and continued success in wholesaling and franchising. Like-for-like sales were down 2.6 per cent in the 14 week period, an improvement on the 3.5 per cent decline in the second quarter but a smaller recovery than we had anticipated. Consumers continued to show restraint in their spending and the adverse weather in July, followed by flooding in parts of the country at the end of September, also impacted sales in the period.
"Whilst we remain cautious about the economic outlook total sales will continue to benefit from the success of our new shop openings and expansion in wholesaling and franchising. However, we expect consumers to continue showing restraint and now anticipate like-for-like sales to remain negative in the final quarter. We will partially mitigate the impact of this lower like-for-like sales performance through tight control of costs and the increased profit contribution from wholesaling and franchising.
"We are making the Greggs brand more accessible to customers through our new shop openings and wholesaling and franchising channels and this underpins our strategy to deliver long-term profitable growth for the benefit of shareholders, employees and the wider community."
