Vacationers and home guests within the West Finish at Leicester Sq. exterior the Greggs bakery which is named the Mega Greggs on twenty eighth July 2024 in London, United Kingdom.
Mike Kemp | In Photos | Getty Photographs
U.Okay. high-street baker Greggs, famed for its sausage rolls and sizzling savoury bakes, warned on Wednesday that gross sales in June had been hit by unusually sizzling climate in June.
Shares of the bakery chain plunged round 15% on Wednesday after the corporate issued a buying and selling replace through which it mentioned unseasonably sizzling 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 whole 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 record in the U.K. — had been impacted “as very excessive temperatures affected the U.Okay., rising demand for chilly drinks however lowering our total 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, hen 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 sizzling bakes had been notably affected by the latest heatwave climate, with temperatures hovering to round 33 levels Celsius (91 Fahrenheit) within the south of the nation, British consumers seemingly opted for cooler choices.
Greggs is anticipated to supply extra particular element on what gross sales had been affected when it releases its 2025 interim outcomes on the finish of July.
Nevertheless, it warned on Wednesday that “in mild of the present buying and selling circumstances” full-year working revenue “could possibly 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 internet openings for the complete yr.
“Greggs could 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 sizzling sausage roll in a heatwave, however a stretched shopper could also be a part of the larger image. Inflation could also be easing, however wallets are nonetheless below stress, and Greggs’ worth proposition could also be dropping a little bit of its chunk,” Crouch added.