Greggs' sales top £1 billion amidst high street slowdown
The sales were partly driven by publicity surrounding the launch of the vegan-friendly sausage roll.
In the company’s full year performance, Greggs announced that its total sales grew 7.2% to £1.029 billion in 2018 from last year’s recorded £960 million - a first in the company's history.
Company-managed shop like-for-like sales meanwhile rose 2.9%, lower than last year’s 3.7% growth.
Operating profit excluding property profits and exceptional items were up 9.1% to £89.1 million from the £81.7 million recorded in 2017.
A total of 149 new shops opened in the period, while 50 were closed down. As of 29 December 2018, there are 1,953 Greggs shops operational.
"2018 was a year that tested the resilience of Greggs' business model and demonstrated the benefits of our strategic investment programme. The first half was significantly impacted by extreme weather but once this returned to normal our underlying strengths helped us recover the lost ground and deliver results for the year that exceeded our expectations” Greggs' chief executive Roger Whiteside said in a statement.
"We hope to continue benefiting from this strong momentum during the first half of 2019 before facing stronger comparatives later in the year. We have a strong financial position which we plan to use to invest in Greggs' potential for further growth, whilst also delivering good returns for shareholders."
