Pret A Manger annual sales surge past £1bn but growth slows in 2024

Pret A Manger has said it notched up more than £1 billion in global sales for the first time last year as it ramped up overseas expansion, but revealed sharply slowing sales growth so far in 2024.

The sandwich chain said £1 in every £4 is now spent by Pret customers outside the UK after it opened a record 81 new shops in 2023, with more than half of those in overseas markets such as the US, Canada, India, Greece and Spain.

It reported worldwide system sales of £1.1 billion, up 22% in 2023, which helped drive a 12% rise in underlying earnings to £166 million and saw the group meet its target to double the size of the business three years early.

But in more recent figures for the first half of 2024, Pret said system sales growth had more than halved to 10%.

Comparable same-store sales growth also fell back significantly to 3% in the six months to June 30, against the 15% recorded over last year.

Pret said it had seen sales of filter coffee surge by 60% during August when compared to June after overhauling its Club Pret subscription service.

In July, the group ditched its £360-a-year subscription perk and 20% off food offering, in favour of 50% off up to five coffees a day for £10 a month.

At the same time, Pret announced that its signature 100% organic arabica filter coffee would drop to 99p, and its all butter croissant would fall to £1.99.

Pret A Manger chief executive Pano Christou said: “We set ourselves some tough targets to get Pret going again after the pandemic, and we have delivered.”

“The fact that £1 in every £4 is now spent outside the UK is both an achievement and an opportunity for our business.

“It shows how big the appetite is from customers all over the world for Pret’s menu.”