Greggs Profits Up

British bakery chain Greggs has seen profits rise despite the recession.

Profits climbed 7 per cent to £16.5million in the six months to June 27.

Greggs, which has 1,392 shops and serves six million customers a week, improved sales by 4.4 per cent to £312million in the period, with the figure 1.5 per cent higher when changes to store space are stripped out.

Cost control and the strength of its products helped it weather tough trading conditions, although sales have slowed in the past six weeks after wet weather left the like-for-like rate flat on a year earlier.

Across the whole range, Greggs said it had trebled the percentage of sales derived from new product launches.

The chain is also seeing benefits from initiatives taken to simplify the business, such as opening a new bakery in Manchester which has delivered efficiencies and increased capacity in the North West.

More than 40 new shops are due to be opened over the second half of the year, as well as between 10 and 15 closures. Greggs opened 14 new shops during the first half and closed 31, including the sale of 10 shops in Belgium.

The rebranding of its Bakers Oven shops to Greggs is proceeding to plan, with 40 per cent of the 164 outlets now converted and the programme continuing at a rate of two shops each week.

Greggs plc is the UK’s leading bakery retailer, specialising in sandwiches, savouries and other baker-fresh food on the go. They have over 1,400 Greggs shops throughout the UK which serve over five million customers.