Greggs faces first loss as Covid bites

HIGH street stalwart Greggs will announce its first ever full year pre-tax loss on Tuesday, with analysts expecting it to fall £23.1million into the red.

The loss will be the first in its 82-year history and is down to the lockdowns and other coronavirus control measures.

Footfall at its stalls has collapsed, along with the food-to-go market, as people have worked from home and as a result, Greggs’ revenues are set to fall 31.2 per cent to £803.4million.

CMC Markets chief market analyst Michael Hewson said: “When one considers the challenges facing food retail over the period of the pandemic, this can be considered a fairly solid performance.”

The bakery chain’s dividend for its 2020 financial year is to be scrapped.

The previous year, it paid out 44.9p per share to investors.

In contrast, Ocado is expected to say its sales have continued to grow thanks to the pandemic at its first quarter trading update on Thursday.

Ocado saw revenues from its supermarket business, which is jointly owned with Marks & Spencer, break the £2billion barrier last year and chief executive Tim Steiner is tipped to say that the business can hold onto and build upon its pandemic gains.

On Friday JD Wetherspoon is likely to post its first ever half-year loss, when it presents its latest results to the City. Revenues for the six months to the end of January are likely to be down significantly on the £933 million it made for the corresponding period the previous year.