Vacationers and home guests within the West Finish at Leicester Sq. outdoors the Greggs bakery which is named the Mega Greggs on twenty eighth July 2024 in London, United Kingdom.
Mike Kemp | In Footage | Getty Photographs
U.Okay. high-street baker Greggs, famed for its sausage rolls and scorching savoury bakes, warned on Wednesday that gross sales in June have been hit by unusually scorching climate in June.
Shares of the bakery chain plunged round 15% on Wednesday after the corporate issued a buying and selling replace during which it mentioned unseasonably scorching climate within the U.Okay. had hit buyer footfall and dented like-for-like gross sales in June.
Like-for-like gross sales grew by 2.6% with complete gross sales hitting £1.03 billion ($1.4 billion) within the first half of 2025, up from £961 in the identical interval final yr, however the firm mentioned that like-for-like gross sales final month — the second-hottest June on file within the U.Okay. — have been impacted “as very excessive temperatures affected the U.Okay., rising demand for chilly drinks however decreasing our general footfall.”
A vegan sausage roll from a Greggs outlet in London in 2019.
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Photographs
The baker has proved a success with British shoppers with its sausage rolls, rooster bakes, jam donuts and new Mac & Cheese providing — which went “viral” on social media — changing into best-sellers.
Whereas it didn’t specify whether or not gross sales of its scorching bakes have been notably affected by the current heatwave climate, with temperatures hovering to round 33 levels Celsius (91 Fahrenheit) within the south of the nation, British consumers possible opted for cooler choices.
Greggs is anticipated to offer extra particular element on what gross sales have been affected when it releases its 2025 interim outcomes on the finish of July.
Nonetheless, it warned on Wednesday that “in mild of the present buying and selling circumstances” full-year working revenue “might be modestly beneath that achieved in 2024.” The corporate is trying to proceed an growth drive, nonetheless, saying it remained assured in reaching 140 to 150 web openings for the complete yr.
“Greggs may be feeling the warmth, however not in the best way it hoped,” Mark Crouch, market analyst for eToro, mentioned in emailed feedback as the corporate’s share worth tanked on Wednesday.
“For a model that is constructed its success on affordability and comfort, a dip in demand raises eyebrows, particularly when footfall needs to be robust,” he mentioned.
“Certain, it is more durable to promote a scorching sausage roll in a heatwave, however a stretched client could also be a part of the larger image. Inflation could also be easing, however wallets are nonetheless underneath stress, and Greggs’ worth proposition could also be shedding a little bit of its chew,” Crouch added.
