REG - Greggs PLC - Trading Update

GreggsAnnouncement

Today 07:00

For best results when printing this announcement, please click on link below:
https://newsfile.refinitiv.com/getnewsfile/v1/story?guid=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20260512:nRSL8645Da&default-theme=true

RNS Number : 8645D  Greggs PLC  12 May 2026

12 May 2026

 

GREGGS PLC

("Greggs" or the "Company")

 

TRADING UPDATE

 

Improved trading; expectations for the year remain unchanged

 

Highlights for the first 19 weeks of 2026

 

·    Total sales up 7.5% to £800 million

·    2.5% LFL* sales growth in the year to date, 3.3% in the most recent
10 weeks

·    41 gross new shops opened, 20 net openings, 2,759 shops now trading

·    Continue to target around 120 net openings for the full year

·    No change in overall 2026 cost inflation expectations; circa 3% on a
LFL basis

·    Investments to increase supply chain capacity on track

·    Expect good first half profit progress with incremental operating
costs from our new Derby  site primarily impacting the second half as
previously guided

·    Board's expectations for the full year outcome remain unchanged

 

* Like-for-like (LFL) company-managed shop sales performance against
comparable period in 2025

 

Trading performance

Like-for-like (LFL) sales in company-managed shops grew by 2.5% in the first
19 weeks of 2026, and improved to 3.3% in the most recent 10 weeks with menu
development supporting progress. Total sales in the 19 weeks to 9 May 2026
were up 7.5% to £800 million (2025: £744 million). Partnerships with
franchisees and grocery retailers are progressing well and contributing to the
growth in overall sales. We have made encouraging profit progress in the year
to date, partly reflecting a weak comparator period but also good operational
cost control.

 

Menu development and innovation

We continue to broaden and refresh our menu, introducing new products that
combine quality ingredients, fresh flavours and innovation across our core
categories. The launch of our new Chicken Roll in April has been a standout,
quickly establishing itself as a customer favourite and complementing our
iconic Sausage Roll and Vegan Roll. We have also strengthened our hot food and
pizza offer with introductions such as the Tandoori Chicken Pizza Slice,
expanding choice with bolder, contemporary flavours.

 

Alongside this, we have enhanced our salad range with a mix of new and
reformulated recipes, improving quality and reinforcing our commitment to
offering healthier lunchtime choices. New salads launched last week include
the Chicken Caesar and the Chicken, Grains and Greens, adding protein and
increasing choice for customers. Our drinks range has also been energised
through flavour-led innovation across iced coffees, lemonades and refreshers,
with the launch of Matcha - which has proved extremely popular - marking an
important step in appealing to new and younger customers. Together, these
launches reflect our focus on relevance and innovation, while staying true to
the familiar quality customers expect from Greggs.

 

Shop estate and supply chain development

The proactive management of our shop estate continues and during the period we
opened 41 new shops, which included 17 with our franchise partners. In the
year to date we have closed 21 shops (including 11 relocations), resulting in
a total of 2,759 shops trading as at 9 May (comprising 2,141 company-managed
shops and 618 franchised units). We continue to target around 120 net
openings for the full year.  In the coming weeks we will open our first shop
in an airport outside the UK, working in partnership with leading global
travel operator Lagardère Travel Retail at Tenerife South Airport. Tenerife
South is a destination for millions of UK and international passengers each
year and represents an excellent opportunity to test our offering in an
international travel hub.

 

The testing and operational readiness preparations for our new frozen product
manufacturing and logistics facility in Derby are progressing in line with
plan, and the internal fit-out of our new National Distribution Centre in
Kettering continues at pace. The sites will be operational in 2026 and 2027
respectively, in line with our planned timescales.

 

Outlook

 

LFL sales performance has improved against what remains a challenging market,
with good operational cost control supporting encouraging year-on-year profit
progress in the year to date. There has been no change to the overall outlook
for cost inflation, which we expect to be around 3% on a LFL basis. Our
forward buying of key commodities continues to provide protection against
increased inflation in the near term; we have forward purchase agreements in
place representing circa five months of cover for our food and packaging needs
and 85% of our 2026 energy and fuel requirements are fixed in price. In
addition, circa 50% of our 2027 energy and fuel requirements are fixed. We are
monitoring the situation in the Middle East and should the conflict continue
and become prolonged we, like all food retailers, will likely see higher
overall cost inflation through the end of 2026 and into 2027.

 

In this uncertain environment, our value offer remains highly attractive as
customers look to make their money go further. We expect to deliver
good first half profit progress, with the operational costs associated with
our new Derby site primarily impacting the second half of 2026, as previously
guided. The Board's expectations for the full year outcome remain unchanged.

 

 ENQUIRIES:
 Greggs plc                                Hudson Sandler
 Roisin Currie, Chief Executive            Wendy Baker / Hattie Dreyfus /

 Richard Hutton, Chief Financial Officer   Emily Brooker / India Laidlaw

 David Watson, Head of IR                  Tel:      020 7796 4133

 Tel:      0191 281 7721                   Email: greggs@hudsonsandler.com (mailto:greggs@hudsonsandler.com)

 

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact
rns@lseg.com (mailto:rns@lseg.com)
 or visit
www.rns.com (http://www.rns.com/)
.

RNS may use your IP address to confirm compliance with the terms and conditions, to analyse how you engage with the information contained in this communication, and to share such analysis on an anonymised basis with others as part of our commercial services. For further information about how RNS and the London Stock Exchange use the personal data you provide us, please see our
Privacy Policy (https://www.lseg.com/privacy-and-cookie-policy)
.   END  TSTFLFFRELILLIR



            Copyright 2019 Regulatory News Service, all rights reserved