Sales at Greggs jumped by 14.6% in Q3 of 2022 as it forges ahead with new shop openings and NPD despite significant cost pressures in the market.
Company-managed shops also saw sales growth of 9.7% against 2021 for 13 weeks ended 1 October 2022.
Year-on-year growth moderated in August given the particularly strong staycation effect seen in 2021 but momentum returned in September, it said. Its shops were closed on 19 September for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II which impacted like-for-like growth by around one percentage point.
In the year to date, Greggs has opened 106 new shops and closed 16, giving a total of 2,271 as of 1 October 2022 (comprising 1,860 company-managed shops and 411 franchised units). Openings in the third quarter included two drive-thru sites in Amesbury and Durham and railway locations at Tottenham Hale and London’s Liverpool Street Station. It is on track to reach its goal of 150 net openings for 2022, 40% of which are expected to be with franchise partners.
In September the business commissioned a new automated pizza manufacturing line at its Enfield site which it said will support further growth in this category whilst lowering product costs.
However, the business cautioned that there remains ‘considerable uncertainty in the economy’. Despite the ‘significant’ cost pressures, it expects to trade in line with previous expectations as its ‘outstanding value-for-money positioning is ever-more important to customers’.
“The outlook for cost inflation for the year remains consistent with our previous guidance of c.9% overall like-for-like cost inflation in 2022 and we now hold an appropriate level of forward purchasing cover in respect of our fourth quarter requirements for key food and energy commodities,” the business stated. “We also hold significant energy cover for the first quarter of 2023, with average costs expected to be below the level of the recently-announced price cap.”
No comments yet