Vegan sausage roll sees Greggs sales surge

Greggs made an “exceptionally strong” start to 2019, it announced on Tuesday, reporting that in the seven weeks to 16 February, total sales grew by 14.1%, up from 6.2% growth at the same time last year.

The FTSE 250 bakery chain said like-for-like sales in company-managed shops increased by 9.6%, improving from 2.9% a year ago.

It explained that the performance built on the “strong finish” to 2018, and was supported by extensive publicity surrounding the launch of its vegan-friendly sausage roll product at the start of January.

As a result, customer transaction numbers had increased, with additional sales mainly comprising savoury products such as the vegan-friendly sausage roll, as well as the company’s other “iconic” sausage rolls and bakes.

“The rate of growth has eased slightly in February but the strength of trading is likely to have a material impact on the first half result for 2019, particularly as comparative sales growth for 2018 was weak due to the extreme weather,” the Greggs board said in its statement.

“Sales comparatives then strengthen in the second half of the year.

“Overall the board now anticipates that 2019 full year underlying profit before tax - excluding exceptional charges - is likely to be ahead of its previous expectations.”

Greggs said further information would be available in its 2018 preliminary results, which it planned to release on 7 March.