Greggs sees profits dip on 'record rainfall'
Greggs, the UK's largest bakery chain, has reported a drop in profits in the first half, blaming wet weather for a fall in like-for-like sales.
Pre-tax profit for the six months to the end of June was £16.5m, down from the £17.3m posted a year earlier. Revenue was up almost 5% at £350m.
The company warned of "challenging" trading for the rest of the year.
Separately, Mr Kipling owner Premier Foods posted a 3.2% rise in underlying profits to £53.2m.
Like-for-like sales at Greggs, which strip out the impact of store openings and closures, fell by 2.3%.
The company was unable to capitalise on publicity surrounding the government's proposed "pasty tax", which was subsequently dropped. Greggs had lobbied hard against the move.
"The market remained challenging and was particularly impacted by the record levels of rainfall in the second quarter," the company said.
It added that tight cost controls had minimised the impact on profits.