Greggs - New Bitesize Greggs outlet in Sevenoaks train station

Source: Greggs

A new Bitesize Greggs outlet in Sevenoaks Station

Profits have fallen at Greggs as costs increased and volumes at the high street bakery chain declined amid tough trading conditions.

Total revenues in the 52 weeks to 27 December rose 6.8% to £2.2bn as Greggs continued to expand its store estate, to 2,739 shops.

Like-for-like sales increased 2.4% year on year, and the company improved its market share in a challenging food-to-go market.

However, underlying pre-tax profits fell 9.4% to £171.9m as Greggs absorbed higher employment expenses and food and packaging costs, while overall profit before tax sank 17.9% to £167.4m.

The group saved £13m thanks to cost management in 2025 and said it had strong plans in place for future years.

Greggs maintained its dividend at the same level as 2024, at 69p a share.

Like-for-like growth has slowed in the first nine weeks of 2026 to just 1.6% and Greggs forecast underlying profits would remain flat for the year.

CEO Roisin Currie called the 2025 performance “resilient” as Greggs battled a tough environment for the whole food-to-go market.

“Looking into 2026, easing inflationary pressures should provide some support to consumer spending and demand for convenient food-on-the-go continues to underpin the market,” she added.

“We remain focused on broadening access to Greggs with a strong pipeline of shop openings, exciting launches and deeper customer engagement via the Greggs App.

“We have a clear formula for long-term success, leveraging our value leadership, vertical integration, breadth of range and strong track record of innovation. Together, these strengths give us a clear competitive advantage and position us well to deliver further sustainable growth.”

Greggs highlighted the “clear opportunity” to grow its store estate to significantly more than 3,000 shops in the UK over the longer term, targeting around 120 net openings in 2026.

New national distribution centres in Derby and Kettering will increase its logistics capacity to 3,500 shops once operational and remain on time and on budget.

Greggs’ capital expenditure peaked in 2025 at £287.5m and will fall to around £200m in 2026, reducing to a range of £150m-£170m from 2027 onwards.

Currie said she expected 2026 to be “another tough year for the consumer” but was optimistic that inflationary pressure would ease a little, providing some support to shoppers and the food-to-go sector.

Overall like-for-like cost inflation at Greggs – which hit around 5.5% in 2025 – is expected to be about 3% this year.

“I remain confident about the growth opportunities available to Greggs and our ability to progress them,” Currie added.