Greggs, a leading UK food-on-the-go retailer with over 2,000 UK sites, has posted its preliminary results for the 53 weeks ending 2 January 2021.
Full year financial performance
> Total sales were £811.3m (2019: £1,167.9m)
> Like-for-like sales in company-managed shops down 36.2% on 2019 level
> Progressive recovery in sales levels through second half of year
> Pre-tax loss £13.7m, including government support for job retention and relief from business rates (2019: £108.3m profit)
> Positive cash position at end of year and additional liquidity available under new £100m revolving credit facility
Multi-channel development strategy accelerated: delivery and wholesale channels providing alternative routes to access Greggs products, with delivery contributing an increasing proportion of total sales. Click & Collect rolled out across entire estate and delivery made available from more than 600 shops.
Shop opening pipeline reactivated: demonstrating confidence in long-term growth opportunity.84 new shops opened in 2020, 56 closures (28 net openings); 2,078 shops as at 2 January 2021. Planning circa 100 net new shops for 2021.
Resilience through breadth of shop estate and customer base: variety and reach of shop estate, with relatively modest exposure to workplaces and public transport, in locations accessible to customers who need to be away from the home.
Current trading
> Positive sales trend, better-than-expected start to 2021 given the extent of lockdown conditions
> Shops in Scotland temporarily closed to walk-in customers for the majority of the year to date
> Company-managed shop like-for-like sales down 28.8% year-on-year in the ten weeks to 13 March 2021
> Outside of Scotland, company-managed shop like-for-like sales in the rest of the UK estate were down 22.4% year-on-year
> Delivery sales particularly strong, at 9.6% of total company-managed shop sales in the first ten weeks of 2021
CEO Roger Whiteside OBE said, “Greggs has made a better-than-expected start to 2021 given the extent of lockdown conditions and is well placed to participate in the recovery from the pandemic.
'It has a clear strategy to extend its digital capabilities and to grow further in new locations, channels and dayparts. These opportunities will benefit all of its stakeholders in the years to come.
“In a year like no other, I believe that the Covid crisis has in many ways demonstrated the strength of Greggs. It has shown the resilience of our business model, but most of all the strength of our people who have worked hard throughout to maintain an essential service providing takeaway food to customers unable to work from home, many of whom were themselves key workers.
'I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our people, who can be proud of the part we played in our nation’s time of need.”