Greggs serves up a tasty third quarter

High Street baker Greggs said third quarter total sales rose 12.4%, driven by higher customer numbers.

Company-managed shop like-for-like sales were up 7.4% for the 13 weeks to September 28 as Greggs maintained its full-year outlook, adding that it still expected year-on-year sales growth would reflect strengthening comparatives from 2018.

“As previously disclosed, we are preparing for the potential impact of the UK's departure from the European Union by building stocks of key ingredients and equipment that could be affected by disruption to the flow of goods into the UK,” the company said in a trading statement on Tuesday.

“Overall input cost inflation is in line with our previous guidance to the end of the year, with pressures on both labour and food input costs.”

Total sales for the first nine months of 2019 were up 13.9% and company-managed shop like-for-like sales up 9.4% as the company opened a net 56 new shops, including its 2,000th store in August. It said it would open a net 90 locations in the full year.

"We are progressing trials to open a number of shops later into the evening, supported by an extended range of great value 'post-4pm' deals," Greggs said.