Greggs PLC reported a solid increase in annual revenue and a slight up tick in profit on Tuesday, as it boasted a record number of shop openings in the year and like-for-like sales ahead of pre-pandemic levels.

The bakery chain posted a pretax profit of £148.3 million in 2022, up 1.9% from £145.6 million the previous year, while revenue rose 23% to £1.51 billion from £1.23 billion.

Greggs noted strong like-for-like sales growth in the year, with like-for-like sales 18% higher year-on-year and 15% higher than the pre-pandemic level of 2019.

‘After two years of unprecedented disruption to trading caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, we started 2022 relieved to see what appeared to be a return to more normal conditions. We knew we would come back stronger and better,’ the company said.

Greggs noted a record number of new shop openings in 2022, growing its estate to 2,328 shops as at December 31. In 2023, Greggs is targeting 150 net openings.

In the first nine weeks of 2023, like-for-like sales in company-managed sales were up 19% against the prior year. Greggs said this was in-line with its expectations and reflected the impact of Omicron in the comparator period.

Chair Matt Davies said: ‘Despite challenging macroeconomic conditions Greggs delivered another strong performance in 2022... Continued robust demand for Greggs, at a time when disposable incomes have been under pressure, is testament to the quality and value of the products that we offer and the broad appeal of the Greggs proposition.’

Greggs said cost inflation will continue to be a challenge in the year ahead, driven particularly by pay awards and energy costs. It expects overall input cost inflation in 2023 to be in the range of 9% to 10%. In 2022, cost inflation totalled 9%, in-line with previous guidance.

Shares in Greggs were down 1.0% at 2,722.00 pence on Tuesday morning in London.

The Newcastle-based firm recommended a final dividend of 44.0 pence per share, bringing its total payout in the year to 59.0p. Last year, Greggs paid out 57.0p per share to shareholders.

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