Shares in Greggs slumped today after it warned customers are buying fewer hot sausage rolls and steak bakes during the heatwave.
The bakery chain said the “flaming June” temperatures had “impacted consumer purchasing patterns” with higher demand for cold drinks but “but reducing our overall footfall”.
As a result, full year operating profits “could be modestly below that achieved in 2024,” the company said in an unscheduled trading update.
Greggs shares fell almost 13%, or 256p to 1719p and are now down 40% so far this year.
The Met Office said yesterday that June was the warmest on record in England - beating even the famous summer of 1976 - and the second warmest since 1884 for the UK as a whole.
July has also got off to a scorching start with Wimbledon experiencing its warmest ever opening day on Monday when temperatures soared to 32C, although the rest of the week is looking cooler.
Greggs said total sales were up 6.9% at £1.027 billion in the first half of the year with like for like sales growing by 2.6% “with good progress in May followed by slower growth in June”.
The chain opened 87 shops, with the overall number of outlets trading increasing by a net 31 to 2,649 shops. The company said it was “on track to achieve 140 to 150 net openings for the full year”.
In its outlook statement Greggs, which reports its interim results on 29 July, said it expects first half operating profit to be lower than last year, “reflecting the stronger comparative trading performance in H1 2024 and the phasing of refurbishments and cost recovery initiatives across the current year. For the full year, our cost inflation outlook remains unchanged and planned cost mitigation measures are expected to enhance second half performance”.
“Whilst acknowledging that comparative like for like sales are less demanding in the second half of the year, in light of the current trading conditions the Board now anticipates that the full year operating profit could be modestly below that achieved in 2024,” it added.
Greggs made pre-tax profits of £203.9 million last year, up 8%.
