The Times - UK (2022-05-17)

36 Tuesday May 17 2022 | the times

Business

compares with a period in 2021 when

lockdowns had been lifted, like-for-like

sales were 15.8 per cent higher.

Greggs said that sales in bigger cities

and areas with a lot of offices “continue

to lag the rest of the estate”, but its

transport locations had shown a

“marked increase” in activity. The

business, which has focused on

expanding its menu beyond its familiar

baked goods in recent years, said that its

On a roll

2014 16 18 20 22

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

£35

Source: Refinitiv

Roger Whiteside

becomes chief

executive

Share price

‘Share price

boost’ for

Vo d a f o n e

Alex Ralph

The investment by Vodafone’s new top

shareholder should bolster the FTSE-

100 telecom group’s share price, similar

to the effect Patrick Drahi had when he

bought in to BT.

Analysts at UBS, Vodafone’s joint

house broker, said yesterday that the

9.8 per cent stake owned by e&, the

United Arab Emirates-based telecoms

company, whose holding emerged over

the weekend, could have an effect

similar to when Altice, Patrick Drahi’s

international telecoms group, acquired

an initial 12 per cent stake in BT last

June.

Shares in Vodafone rose 2¼p, or

1.9 per cent, to close at 120p yesterday.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley, another

house broker, said that “there may be

questions about whether it could

increase its Vodafone stake further”.

They said there was a “read-across” to

Drahi, 58, who raised his position in BT

to 18 per cent in December.

The Middle Eastern group has said it

is supportive of Vodafone’s board and

business strategy and that it has no in-

tention of seeking a board seat or of

making a takeover offer. The $4.4 billion

investment by e&, which is based in Abu

Dhabi and previously was known as

Etisalat, equates to just over 129p a share.

The group has a market value of

more than $70 billion and Hatem

Dowidar, its chief executive, was

formerly chief of staff at Vodafone to

Vittorio Colao, its former group chief

executive.

At Vodafone’s full-year results today

there are likely to be questions about

the stake-building, as well as plans to

consolidate Vodafone in Europe. The

group, whose British business is based

in Newbury, Berkshire, operates mobile

and fixed networks in 21 countries and

works with mobile networks in 48

more. Nick Read, 57, its chief executive,

has been outspoken in his calls for con-

solidation in Europe.

S

hares in

Made.com

tumbled by as

much as a fifth

yesterday after

investors were

spooked by a second

profit warning in six

months (Ashley

Armstrong writes).

Amid falling demand

for furniture and

problems in its supply

chain, Made admitted

that it would lose

money this year, and

would not hit

previously announced

growth targets.

Made said it would

make a pre-tax loss of

between £15 million

and £35 million this

year, compared with an

earlier forecast of

earnings between

£5 million and £15 mil-

lion. Its best-case scen-

ario is for sales to be

flat, but it warned that

sales could fall by

15 per cent to

£369 million to

£436 million —

significantly

below its

previous

suggestion

of up to

£540 mil-

lion.

Made

said that

the overall

furniture

market was

down by

30 per cent to

40 per cent on

last year’s sales levels

because of tough

comparisons. It

said that while

it was

outperforming

with sales

down by

10 per cent,

“trading has

been volatile

and more

challenging

than

anticipated”.

It also said that

the target to generate

£1.2 billion of sales

stated at its flotation

would now “be later

than 2025”.

Shares in Made.com

closed down 9½p, or

14.8 per cent, at 54¼p

last night, valuing the

company at about

£212 million. When it

floated last June,

Made had a valuation

of £775 million.

Made also

announced the

departure of Adrian

Evans, who has been

its chief financial

officer since 2017. He

will be replaced by

Patrick Lewis, 55,

great-grandson of

John Spedan Lewis,

the founder of John

Lewis, the department

stores chain.

It is another key

management change

after Philippe

Chainieux, 49,

resigned as chief

executive in March for

family reasons. Nicola

Thompson, 44, who

took over as Made’s

boss, said “there is no

escaping the tough

trading environment”.

However, she added

that she was

“confident the

company will emerge

in a very strong

position”.

Made has grappled

with supply chain

delays, higher wages

and soaring shipping

and raw material costs

while the cost-of-living

crisis has knocked

consumer confidence.

New profit

warning

floors

Made.com

fall by

to

nto

n —

y

s

to

on

ales levels

becaus

comp

said

it w

ou

w

do

10

“t

be

an

cha

than

antici

It also

the target

£1.2 billion

Investors are spooked but the company says it is still outperforming the rest of the furniture market

MADE.COM

Fewer office workers in town and city
centres are affecting sales at Greggs,
although the bakery chain said yester-
day that strong demand for its hot food
and at its shops at railway stations
meant its performance was still in line
with expectations.
In the last trading update under
Roger Whiteside, who has been its chief
executive for nine years and led a
sevenfold increase in the company’s
share price, Greggs said it had made a
good start to the year.
Whiteside, 63, will hand over to
Roisin Currie, 50, at today’s annual
meeting. Currie has been with the
business for 12 years and will be the first
woman to lead the 80-year-old com-
pany.
Despite lower customer numbers
in big cities, caused by companies
shifting to hybrid working
patterns, Greggs is press-
ing on with an expansion
plan. It now has 2,224
shops in the UK after
opening 49 new
stores during the

past 19 weeks. Total sales over the

past 19 weeks have risen by 20 per

cent from £378 million to

£495 million. Like-for-like sales

rose by 27.4 per cent during the

period, helped by comparisons

with the previous year when

then chain faced trading

restrictions.

In the most recent

ten weeks, which

hot food, such as chicken goujons and

potato wedges, were proving popular.

It warned that the trading environ-

ment would become more challenging

as “market-wide cost pressures have

been increasing and consumer in-

comes will clearly be under pressure in

the second half of the year”. It had

already warned that the prices of its

baked goods, including sausage rolls

and steak bakes, would become more

expensive because of rising costs.

In March Greggs said that inflation

in the business was running at between

6 per cent and 7 per cent, because of

higher labour, energy and ingredient

costs. The price of a sausage roll went

up by 5p last year to £1.05, and other

items rose by 10p.

Analysts at Investec said: “Trading is

in line with expectations and, while cost

pressures are increasing, management

has levers to pull to mitigate against

further headwinds.”

Whiteside has said that Greggs will

not jeopardise its position as a low-

priced food retailer and would remain

competitive. “We will continue to work

to mitigate the impact of cost pressures

whilst protecting Greggs’ reputation

for exceptional value,” the company

said.

Shares in Greggs fell by 10p, or 0.5 per

cent, to £21.60 yesterday.

Hot food provides warm glow for Greggs

Ashley Armstrong Retail Editor Profile

R

oger Whiteside’s

retail career

started at ten

years old when

his father was posted to

RAF Wildenrath in

Germany and would

serve British troops from

a German convenience

store (Ashley Armstrong

writes).

Back in Britain, he

helped his father to sell

whelks and cockles

around working men’s

clubs in Southampton.

In 1979 he joined

Marks & Spencer as a

graduate trainee,

climbing to become

personal assistant to

Sir Richard Greenbury,

the mercurial chief

executive who led M&S

during the 1990s and also

ran its food operations.

Whiteside, 63, pitched

the idea of online

groceries to M&S’s board

and when they rejected

the idea he quit and

joined Ocado in 2000 as

one of its earliest

employees.

Whiteside has also led

Threshers, the wine store,

and Punch Taverns, the

pubs chain.

When appointed boss

of Greggs in 2013, he

overhauled the business

to focus on food-to-go

and to stop selling bread.

It prompted a rapid

turnaround in fortunes

and led to Greggs

becoming the nation’s

second biggest seller of

sandwiches behind Tesco.

Under Whiteside, it has

launched healthier food

options and expanded its

menu to salads, porridge

and coffees, helping sales

to double to £1.2 billion.

The launch of a vegan

sausage roll proved an

unexpected social media

viral hit, further boosting

the growth of its brand.

The pandemic dragged

the business to the first

loss in its history, but

Whiteside has overseen a

brisk revival. When he

took over the business,

Greggs was worth

£490 million; when he

steps down at its annual

meeting today, it will be

worth four times as

much.

Roger Whiteside
has overseen
growth at Greggs