On-the-go food retailer Greggs posts 2.5% rise in like-for-like fourth quarter sales
British baker and on-the-go food retailer Greggs on Thursday reported that like-for-like sales rose 2.5% in the fourth quarter of 2024, which it said was reflective of a “more subdued High Street footfall.”
“Trading performance reflected a well publicised more challenging market backdrop in the second half of 2024,” the company noted in a trading update.
Across the full year 2024, Greggs’ total sales rose above £2 billion ($2.45 billion) for the first time, the company said, climbing 11.3%. That, however, fell short of expectations, with analysts having forecast a 12.2% increase, according to LSEG data.
Looking ahead, the company said higher employment costs are expected to result in further cost inflation in 2025, but suggested it was confident about the progress it could make this year.
— Sophie Kiderlin
German imports fall 3.3%, exports rise 2.1% from previous month in November
German imports pulled back 3.3%, while exports added 2.1% from the previous month in November, the country’s statistics office Destatis said Thursday.
Calendar and seasonally adjusted exports totaled 127.3 billion euros ($131.2 billion), with imports — adjusted for the same factors — amounting to 107.6 billion euros. That put Germany’s foreign trade balance at a 19.7 billion euro surplus.
The U.S. was Germany’s biggest trading partner for exports, while most imports came from China, the statistics office said.
— Sophie Kiderlin
European markets: Here are the opening calls
European markets are expected to open in positive territory Thursday.
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 index is expected to open 13 points higher at 8,256, Germany’s DAX up 44 points at 20,361, France’s CAC up 8 points at 7,454 and Italy’s FTSE MIB up 2 points at 35,210, according to data from IG.
Earnings releases include trading statements from M&S, Tesco and Greggs. German trade balance data for November is due to be released Thursday.
— Holly Ellyatt
China’s consumer inflation slows further in December, stoking deflation worries
China’s consumer price inflation in December slipped to 0.1% year on year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed Thursday, stoking deflation concerns.
Growth in headline inflation was in line with Reuters estimates, but less than the 0.2% rise in November. Core CPI, which excludes food and energy prices, rose 0.4% year on year compared with 0.3% rise in the previous month, the data showed.
On a month-on-month basis, China’s CPI came in flat, compared with the 0.6% decline in the prior month.
Food prices fell by 0.6% month on month as a result of conducive weather conditions, official statistics showed. The prices of fresh vegetables and fruits fell 2.4% and 1%, respectively. Prices of pork, which makes up a significant portion of the CPI basket, fell 2.1%.
— Lee Ying Shan
CNBC Pro: Beyond Tencent: Goldman refreshes its list of top Asian stocks — giving one nearly 50% upside
Goldman Sachs is cautious on Chinese tech behemoth Tencent Holdings, removing it from its Asia-Pacific “conviction list” of top picks.
The investment bank also removed several other stocks from the list and added others, including one it gives nearly 50% upside.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Amala Balakrishner
CNBC Pro: Bernstein says Taiwanese chip supplier to benefit in 2026
MediaTek, the Taiwanese semiconductor company collaborating with Nvidia on its newly announced small AI supercomputer, is expected to see significant financial benefits from the partnership starting in 2026, according to Bernstein.
Nvidia’s desktop supercomputer, priced starting at $3,000, is set to launch in May 2025.
CNBC Pro subscribers can read more here.
— Ganesh Rao
Fed minutes show officials worried about inflation impact from Trump policies
A summary of the Fed’s December meeting showed central bank officials were concerned about how policies from the incoming Trump administration could impact inflation.
“Almost all participants judged that upside risks to the inflation outlook had increased,” the minutes said. “In discussing the outlook for monetary policy, participants indicated that the Committee was at or near the point at which it would be appropriate to slow the pace of policy easing.”
— Fred Imbert
