Greggs share price: 4 things we learnt from its half-year results
Shareholders were rewarded for believing in the bakery chain with a £35 million pay out after an ‘exceptional’ performance over the last six months following strong growth as it ‘broadens its appeal for food on-the-go’.
Greggs has made a strong start, with it recording a significant hike in pre-tax profit over the first six months of trading, delighting shareholders who received a major windfall for their support as the company navigated a myriad of headwinds.
IG looks at the main takeaways from its impressive half-year results.
Greggs results wow investors
The bakery chain saw its pre-tax profit growth by 58% to £40.6 million in its first six months of trading, up from 25.7 million in the same period last year.
Total sales at Greggs increased by 14.7% to £546 million, while like-for-like sales in its stores rose by 10.5%.
Greggs rewards shareholders with major windfall
Greggs rewarded its shareholders for their ongoing support with a £35 million special dividend pay out to mark its ‘exceptional’ start to the new financial year.
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Greggs food on-the-go strategy a big hit with customers
The bakery chain has championed food on-the-go with it creating healthy vegan alternatives to many of its fan favourite items, including the plant-based sausage roll that launched in January.
The strategy has been a success with customers and will help the company hit its full-year targets.
‘We have continued to make strategic progress with our programmes of investment in infrastructure to support future growth and in developing the products and channels to market that will help achieve our ambition to be the customers’ favourite for food-on-the-go,’ Greggs CEO Roger Whiteside said.
Greggs steady expansion pays off
Over the first six months of the year, Greggs opened 54 new stores and closed 23, bringing its total to 1,984. Its decision to shut down non-performing stores and expand moderately into new areas paid off with it seeing double-digit sales growth so far this year.
‘Given the strength of our year to date and the outlook, we have decided to increase investment in strategic initiatives in the second half of the year to help to deliver an even stronger customer proposition and further growth in the years ahead,’ Whiteside said.
‘Our expectations for underlying profits for the year as a whole remain unchanged,’ he added.
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