Greggs feels the pinch

9th Aug 2011 07:07

Even Greggs, the bakery chain famous for cheap takeaway snacks, is suffering from the tough consumer environment. Like-for-like sales in the 26 weeks to 2 July were up by just 0.4% from the same period a year ago."Trading conditions have proved to be more challenging than we had expected and we do not anticipate that the second half will bring any alleviation of the tougher consumer spending environment with disposable incomes remaining under pressure," chief executive Kennedy McMeikan said. "We continue to experience substantial increases in commodity prices and are continuing to work hard to mitigate the impact on customers through business efficiencies and targeted promotional activity."Pre-tax profits were down to £17.3m from £18.6m a year previously on revenues that were boosted by new store openings, to £334.7m from £321.3m.Greggs said it had a strong month in April, followed by a "very difficult" May, then a return to "marginally positive" like-for-like sales growth in June that continued into July."Our total sales will benefit from our shop opening programme and we believe that marginally positive like-for-like sales growth over the year as a whole is achievable," the company said.---RG