Britain's beloved bakery chain, Greggs, has warned that its full-year earnings forecast has been significantly impacted by the recent heatwave, as soaring temperatures deterred customers from its hot food offerings.
The company reported a noticeable decline in footfall and a reduced appetite for its signature warm pastries and sandwiches as the nation sweltered. While overall like-for-like sales for the six months to June 28 still saw a 2.6% increase, Greggs noted a distinct slowdown in growth during June. This deceleration was directly attributed to "high temperatures impacted consumer purchasing patterns," according to the firm.
“Like-for-like sales in June were impacted as very high temperatures affected the UK, increasing demand for cold drinks but reducing our overall footfall,” it added.
Greggs said it now expects that annual operating profits could be “modestly” lower year on year.
The UK has seen temperatures soar since late June, with the country experiencing its hottest day of the year so far on Tuesday, with temperatures exceeding 34C.
The Met Office confirmed that 34.7C was recorded at St James’s Park in central London on Tuesday afternoon, beating a 34.4C reading recorded in Writtle, Essex earlier in the day.
Greggs said half-year results on July 29 are set to show lower operating profits for the first six months as it came up against strong trading from a year earlier.
“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,” the group said.
