New figures prove Greggs is making a lot of dough as bakery reports rise in sales for 2019

Total sales in 2019 were up by 13.5% to £1.17billion compared to £1.03billion in 2018.

Pre-tax profits rose by 31% to £108.3m from £82.6m, and shares rose by 25.8% to 45p each.

The company opened 138 new shops and closed 41, leaving 2,050 branches open across the UK.

Greggs also reported a very good January 2020, but with a slow-down in February due to the storms.

As well as the traditional range of products, the company has also improved sales by introducing new items to the shelves.

Vegan sausage rolls sales continue to surge.

This in turn led in turn to the recent launch of Greggs’ first vegan steak bake and vegan doughnut, capitalising on a growing segment of the market.

While stakeholders will be delighted to see their shares rise in value by more than a quarter in 2019, ordinary staff members have benefited too.

Last month, the company announced that each employee would receive around £300 as part of a £7-million payment shared across all staff to mark the “phenomenal year”.

The firm’s chief executive, Roger Whiteside, said: “2019 was an exceptional year of progress for Greggs, during which we experienced a sustained increase in customer visits as increased awareness and appreciation of our brand gathered momentum.

“Our exceptional performance was founded on the changes that we have made across our multi-year strategic investment programme, which has delivered transformational change across the business and has now set us up for the next phase of growth.

“We made a very strong start to 2020 in January, but in February saw a significant slowdown in sales growth as a result of the storms that have affected the UK.

“There is some uncertainty in the outlook, particularly given the potential impact of coronavirus.

“This aside, we expect to make year-on-year progress and will do so from a strong financial position, supporting our investment for further growth whilst also delivering good returns for all stakeholders.”