Greggs - Recovering better than expected

Gregg’s trading update indicates a strong rebound in trading since the re-opening of non-essential retail in April 2021, with positive like-for-like (LFL) sales growth versus FY19, which is earlier than we had expected. This is significant as it has been achieved despite not operating at full potential (ie reduced SKUs, shorter opening hours and other social distancing measures) and competition has been more limited, though both will normalise in coming months. With strong cost controls, including temporary benefits, the board believes that FY21 profits could be around 2019 levels in the absence of further restrictions. We upgrade our FY21 PBT forecasts by 64%, due to a less pessimistic LFL sales assumption.