Greggs profits rise to £25.6m

Bakery chain Greggs has announced a rise in profits to £25.6m over the past six months.

Total sales were up 6.4 per cent to £398m, with 44 new shops opened, including its first Northern Ireland store at the Applegreen service station near Templepatrick.

Chief executive Roger Whiteside said the strong first half of the year was down to a growth in sales that reflected improvements to their products and a positive reaction to a shop investment programme.

“Our offer of great tasting food-on-the-go is being well received by the consumer in market conditions that have remained favourable,” he said. “In particular we have seen significant growth in breakfast sales as well as from the extension of our ‘Balanced Choice’ range of sandwiches and flatbreads with fewer than 400 calories.

“With the shop refurbishment programme continuing to progress well and new additions to the product range including pizza slices, we are confident of delivering a year of good growth slightly ahead of our previous expectations.”

Capital expenditure during the first half grew by over ten million pounds over the period to £31.3 million, and included 118 refits to existing stores and 12 café conversions.

Mr Whiteside said he expected the company to deliver further growth throughout the rest of the year.