Greggs hit as Covid keeps shoppers and commuters away

Two years ago Greggs was the darling of the stock market, but sales suffered as Covid kept shoppers and commuters away from High Street baker

Two years ago Greggs was the darling of the stock market. 

Riding high on a string of successful marketing campaigns for its humble sausage roll, shares at the High Street baker rose from 956p to a pre-pandemic peak 2440p. 

But the virus laid the company low as the commuters and shoppers who buy its on-the-go offerings evaporated. 

On Tuesday it will reveal how hard it was hit as it announces its full-year results. 

In January Greggs said it was expecting a full year loss of up to £15m from sales of £811m, down from £1.2billion in 2019. The group does not expect a return to pre-covid levels until at least 2022. 

But bosses are expected to deliver some bright spots as in-store collection has been open for much of the pandemic, and last week its delivery partner Just Eat hinted that demand for takeaways had been strong. 

Favourite: Bosses are expected to deliver some bright spots as in-store collection has been open for much of the pandemic

Favourite: Bosses are expected to deliver some bright spots as in-store collection has been open for much of the pandemic

Berenberg said Greggs ‘faces a couple of tough months’. 

But analysts at Jefferies said its growth plans, with new stores and online expansion continuing in 2021 despite the pandemic, are ‘firmly intact’, even if it is slow to recover from the third lockdown.

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