Press Association
Sunday 12th February 2012
Bakery chain Greggs reports full-year figures on Thursday after a better-than-expected performance at the end of last year, thanks to a boost from festive demand for mince pies.
The group shrugged off adverse pre-Christmas weather to drive a 1.1% rise in comparable sales in the four weeks to Boxing Day, which took analysts by surprise.
Newcastle-based Greggs, which currently has 1,419 stores across the UK, sold more than a million mince pies a week during Christmas, helping lift end-of year trade. Sales across the year as a whole increased by 0.8%.
January's cold snap is likely to have put sales growth at department store chain Debenhams into reverse when it posts its pre-close update on first-half trading on Tuesday. In the 18 weeks to January 2, like-for-like sales crept 0.1% higher, but Singer analyst Matthew McEachran expects sales to be 3% lower in a more difficult final eight weeks to the end of February.
Although Debenhams will have some help from a favourable comparison in early February with the snow that hit the UK a year earlier, retailers with more winter ranges are likely to have fared better during the cold weather.
"Given the relatively low weighting of January and February relative to the rest of the year though, we are not overly concerned about weaker sales trends at the end of the second quarter, so long as seasonal spring weather arrives to kick-start the season this month," Mr McEachran added.
The state of Britain's finances will be in sharp focus again on Thursday when February borrowing figures are released.
With the Budget now confirmed for March 24 and a May 6 general election looking likely, the figures are set to attract significant attention as eyes fall firmly on Government plans to address the ballooning deficit.
Investec economists are expecting public sector net borrowing of £13.3 billion in February, coming after January saw the first deficit since records began.
Despite the dire figures, borrowing levels for the financial year to the end of March are on track to come in below the Treasury's grim full-year forecast for £178 billion. By the end of January, public sector net borrowing had reached £122.4 billion for the year so far - giving the Government some wiggle-room, even if February and March numbers overshoot.
