The Greggs interim results 2026 sent the baker’s shares up 16.1% on 29 July, extending a two-day gain to roughly 23.4% since Monday morning’s open. A £5,000 position taken at the start of the week was worth approximately £6,175 by the close, before stamp duty and trading commissions.
What the Greggs Interim Results 2026 Show
For the 26 weeks ended 27 June, total sales reached £1,101.5 million, up from £1,027.7 million in the equivalent period of 2025, according to the company’s interim results filing. That represents growth of 7.2%, with company-managed shop like-for-like sales up 2.1%.
Operating profit rose 22.9% to £86.5 million. Pre-tax profit came in at £76.0 million, up from £63.5 million in H1 2025, a year-on-year increase of approximately 19.7%, per the FCA National Storage Mechanism RNS filing.
Franchise shop like-for-like system sales grew 1.3% in H1 2026, a slower pace than the 4.8% recorded in H1 2025. The company opened 34 net new shops in the half, ending the period with 2,773 outlets, up from 2,649 at the close of H1 2025.
Greggs’ food-on-the-go market share edged up to 8.7% in H1 2026 from 8.6% for the full year 2025, according to Quartr’s trading update summary.
New Shops, Frozen Aisles and Tenerife
Most of the sales growth came from new shop openings. Management also pointed to expanding business-to-business sales, with Greggs selling more frozen products through Iceland and Tesco.
The company is targeting 100 to 110 net new shop openings in 2026, trimmed from prior guidance of 120. Over the medium term, the plan is to open around 100 net new shops per year, eventually reaching a total of 3,500 outlets. The Greggs Express format (a smaller self-service concept under trial) could accelerate that pace if adoption holds.
Structural cost savings of around £11 million are expected in 2026, and management now anticipates cost inflation of around 2% for the full year.
Greggs has also opened its first international airport location at Tenerife South, a terminal through which around 3 million British travellers pass each year. Chief executive Roisin Currie described the first few weeks of trading as ‘very encouraging.’
The Chicken Roll, launched in April, was called ‘a standout success’ by the company. Greggs has also added protein-based options including chicken and prawn pasta salads, alongside new matcha drinks, as it responds to consumer demand influenced by GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
Short Sellers, Dividends and the Outlook
Greggs carries a heavy short interest on the London Stock Exchange, and part of Tuesday’s sharp move is likely attributable to short sellers covering positions as the price spiked.
On dividends, the company maintained its interim dividend at 19.0p per share in H1 2025 in line with its progressive dividend policy, per the FCA National Storage Mechanism RNS. Management has since indicated plans to ‘increase returns to shareholders’ as the business moves into a more cash-generative phase through 2028, with shares offering a 3.5% dividend yield.
The Greggs preliminary results for the full year 2025 had shown underlying operating profit fall 4.0% to £187.5 million, making the H1 2026 rebound in profitability the headline number investors needed to see.
The Greggs interim results 2026 point to a business that has stabilised margins, kept costs under control and opened a new international channel. The next test is whether the Greggs Express format can sustain the shop-count growth trajectory once the pipeline of traditional high-street sites narrows.
