Greggs shares sliced after bad weather and high street woes

Shares in Greggs have dropped 13% in the wake of disappointing sales figures following bad weather in March.

The bakery chain had reported sales growth of 3.2% compared with year’s figures, but the company has said they are “cautious” of worse than expected profits in a statement.

Greggs had expected profit to be about the same as last year at £81.8m, however city analysts predicted a rise up to £87m. Bad weather meant that Greggs delivery lorries were unable to reach destinations and workers were not able to make it to stores.

Greggs CEO Roger Whitbread said: “For a period of about 10 days we were significantly disrupted, with a double-digit decline in sales in that period.”

Whitbread confirmed that individual customer spend had increased thanks to meal deals, but did say that fewer customers were coming through the door due to the “decline of the high street”.

The CEO did say that the more recent hot weather had a positive impact on trade but said that too much heat has a negative effect. “When it gets to about 25 degrees-plus, people don’t go out, they tend to stay in their gardens and entertain in a different way. So it was a mixed week.”