British baker Greggs on Tuesday said it expects sales and profit for 2019 to be materially higher than its earlier view, as its vegan sausage rolls rack up big sales at its shops.
Launched in January, the savoury snack has gained popularity, with sales growing as the company pushed it out to all of its stores. Sales of breakfast and traditional sweet bakery items are also growing strongly, Greggs said.
Vegan Solutions
Selling for £1 (€1.15), the company wanted to tap into the "Veganuary" movement that encouraged Britons to cut down on - or cut out entirely - meat products for health and environmental reasons.
It now expects sales and underlying profit before exceptional costs to be ahead of its previous expectations, but did not give any figures.
Analysts' mean forecast is currently £1.11 billion in revenue and pretax profit of £99.38 million, according to Refinitiv IBES.
Total sales for the 19 weeks to May 11 rose 15.1%, while like-for-like sales in company-managed shops grew 11.1%.
Greggs also said annual cost inflation would be broadly in line with its plans, despite some increases in input costs.
Shares of the company were expected to open as much as 5% higher, according to premarket indicators.
News by Reuters, edited by ESM. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
