Sales chill: Beast from East eats into revenue growth at Greggs chain

Bakery chain Greggs has warned full-year profits could flat-line after taking a sales hit from the Beast from the East and slower spring trading. The retailer, which has nearly 1,900 shops across the UK, saw like-for-like sales growth in company-managed outlets slow sharply to 1.3 per cent in the first 18 weeks of the year, down from 3.5 per cent a year earlier. Greggs said the severe weather in March compounded general weaker trading conditions seen in early spring, with demand for its food-to-go range impacted in particular.