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Investing.com -- British bakery chain Greggs (LON:GRG) saw its shares slump sharply on Wednesday after the company warned its full-year operating profit may fall short of last year’s results, as unusually hot U.K. weather weighed on customer traffic and June sales.
Greggs said the heatwave drove up demand for cold drinks but dampened overall footfall, leading to weaker like-for-like sales last month.
"Whilst acknowledging that comparative like-for-like (LFL) sales are less demanding in the second half of the year, in light of the current trading conditions, the Board now anticipates that the full year operating profit could be modestly below that achieved in 2024," Greggs said in the release.
Shares dropped as much as 13.7% to 1,704 pence by 08:27 GMT following the update.
Despite the downbeat guidance, some analysts remained positive on Greggs’ long-term prospects. “While obviously disappointing that full-year expectations are nudging back, we do not see this as a reflection on the underlying health of the business,” Jefferies said in a note.
Greggs, which operates more U.K. outlets than McDonald’s (NYSE:MCD), expects first-half operating profit to decline from a year ago, partly due to store refurbishments and the phasing of cost-saving initiatives.
According to LSEG data, analysts were forecasting £198.5 million in operating profit for 2025, up from £195.3 million last year.
Meanwhile, total sales for the 26 weeks ending June 28 rose 6.9% year-on-year to £1.03 billion ($1.42 billion).
LFL sales in company-managed shops increased by 2.6% in the first half of the year.