Greggs on target for growth
'satisfactory' growth in full-year sales when it reports in March
after preliminary figures for the second half showed a 5.4 per cent
improvement.
Greggs, the UK's leading retailer specialising in sandwiches, savouries and other bakery products, has reported second half figures in line with expectations.
The company, which operates 1,200 retail outlets throughout the UK under the Greggs and Bakers Oven brands, said that estimated like-for-like sales in the 28 weeks to 28 December 2002 were up by 5.4 per cent, although it declined to give any precise figures.
Sales for the Christmas period were up 4 per cent on a like-for-like basis, a figure which Greggs said was encouraging especially in the light of particularly good sales in the latter part of 2001.
Costs in the second half were also in line with expectations, the company said, with the main charges coming from a substantial increase in insurance premiums, in common with other retailers and manufacturers across the UK. Further increases in insurance costs are anticipated in 2003, Greggs said.
The company's full year results will be published in March, and Greggs said that it expected to report "satisfactory progress" at that time.
