'On the go' breakfasts help Greggs lift full year sales

12th Jan 2016 07:17

(ShareCast News) - An appetite for breakfasts "on the go" and coffee helped Greggs the baker report healthy 5.2% rise in sales for the 52 weeks to 2 January 2015 and said it expected full year results to be in line with expectations.The company said statutory total sales for the 52 weeks of 2015 up 3.7% against a 53 week year in 2014."Sales growth has been particularly strong in sandwiches and drinks, including our healthier options 'Balanced Choice' range including new salads and 'no added sugar' drinks," Greggs said in a trading update."Our new hot food menu, with an improved hot sandwich range and fresh soups, is also selling well as customers become increasingly aware of our new food-on-the-go options."Mince pies mate a strong contributions to Christmas sales. Greggs said a growing demand for "on the go" breakfasts was becoming a key sales point with early-morning coffee also becoming more popular. The chain said it now plans to add "flat white" and an improved "mocha" coffee to its beverage offerings,Greggs said it had completed 202 refits completed in 2015, plus 20 conversions of it larger bakery cafés, while it opened 122 new shops in the year with 74 closures. It had 1,698 shops trading as at 2 January 2016."We anticipate that we will report full year results for 2015 in line with our previous expectations. In the year ahead we will continue with the implementation of our strategic plan to enable the business to compete more effectively in the food-on-the-go market," said chief executive Roger Whiteside.