Profits at Greggs are to exceed expectations after sales jumped in the last six weeks with help from the Brexit delay.
Bosses had previously been concerned that supplies and sales could take a hit from the UK leaving the EU on October 31, with potential delays to imports. But with an extension agreed, those concerns have now been allayed.
As a result, sales in the six weeks to November 9 jumped 12.4%, with like-for-like sales up 8.3% when new stores are stripped out. The company said it now anticipates "2019 full-year profit before tax (excluding exceptional charges) to be higher than our previous expectations".
It added: "Sales growth continues to be driven by increased customer visits and has been stronger than we had expected given the improving comparative sales pattern that we saw in the fourth quarter last year."
At its last scheduled set of results last month, Greggs had said sales were "very strong" but warned that the group was "building stocks of key ingredients and equipment that could be affected by disruption to the flow of goods into the UK".
