LONDON (Reuters) -Pret A Manger’s plan to more than double the size of its business is progressing well, the British coffee and sandwich chain said on Tuesday, after posting a 20% jump in first-half sales driven by its growing international business.
Pret, owned by German conglomerate JAB Holding, announced in 2021 it wanted to double in size within five years, and said new openings in Italy and India meant it was tracking ahead of plan.
It reported first-half sales at 429.9 million pounds ($562 million), compared with 357.8 million pounds in the year-earlier period, when the pandemic was still deterring travel to Pret’s mostly town centre locations.
Pret also published last year’s annual results on Tuesday which showed the company returned to a profit for the first time since 2018, reporting operating profit of 50.6 million pounds for 2022.
“Despite a challenging economic backdrop, Pret remains well-positioned to continue to grow through the opening of company-operated and franchised shops,” the company said in a statement.
High inflation is one of those economic challenges and in Britain, Pret has raised staff wages three times in 12 months, meaning average base pay for shop staff is up 19% in the year to April.
The company is also adding new stores in Britain, outside London, and that is driving higher weekend sales, while its subscription offer, which provides a set number of coffees for a monthly fee and discounts on food, is also boosting demand.
International sales accounted for 18.9% of first-half revenue, said Pret, which operates 446 shops in Britain and over 600 internationally.
($1 = 0.7645 pounds)
(Reporting by Sarah Young; Editing by Paul Sandle and Mike Harrison)
