Greggs PLC (LSE:GRG) has unveiled a special dividend and doubled down on its expansion plans after a record for store openings last year.
A special dividend of 40p per share was declared as the bakery chain reported a 27% jump in pre-tax profit to £188.3 million in 2023 and an end-of-year cash position of £195.3 million on Tuesday.
This was on top of an ordinary full-year dividend of 46.0p being recommended to the board, Greggs said.
A “record” 220 new shops opened in the year to December, the firm reported, representing a net increase of 145 to 2,473.
Looking ahead, the chain said net openings of between 140 and 160 stores were being targeted this year, adding there was a “clear opportunity for significantly more than 3,000 UK shops over [the] longer term,” which is the target for 2026.
“Reflecting on another year of rapid growth, I am so proud of how our teams have risen to the challenge of serving more customers through more channels,” chief executive Roisin Currie commented.
Greggs also reported that like-for-like sales over the first nine months of the current year had increased by 8.2%, though this was on the back of slowing sales growth from 17.8% to 13.7% between 2022 and 2023.
“As we have previously reported, inflationary pressures are reducing and we have improved visibility of costs in the coming year,” the chain noted.