British sandwich chain Pret a Manger said its global sales exceeded £1 billion for the first time last year as it stepped up its international expansion.
Customers from around the world have flocked to the company, despite the recent uproar over the discontinuation of a popular subscription service.
Pret announced that it will open a record 81 new stores in 2023, more than half of which are in international markets such as Canada, India, Greece and Spain, meaning that one in four pounds spent in its stores is now spent outside the UK. Pret has also made big gains in the US, where it has opened a string of new stores on the East Coast.
The chain reported a 22% rise in global systems sales to £1.1bn in 2023, which would help underlying profits rise 12% to £166m and put the group on track to double the size of the business three years ahead of schedule.
In July, the chain angered customers by scrapping its Club Preto subscription service almost four years after it was launched in the UK. The £360-a-year subscription, which also included 20% off meals, was instead changed to a £10-a-month offer that included 50% off up to five coffees a day.
At the same time, Pret revealed that it was reducing the price of its flagship 100% organic Arabica filter coffee to 99p and its all-butter croissant to £1.99. Pret said sales of its cheaper filter coffee increased by 60% in August compared to June, following the price change.
Despite passing the £1 billion mark, Pret said its latest figures for the first half of 2024 showed sales growth had more than halved to 10%.
Pret-a-porter, a unit of German conglomerate JAB Holdings, also said same-store sales growth in the six months to June 30 fell to 3 percent from 15 percent a year earlier.
“We set ourselves challenging goals to get ready-to-wear back on track after the pandemic, and we achieved them,” Ready-to-Wear CEO Pano Christou said in a statement.
“The fact that one in four pounds is now spent outside the UK is both an achievement and an opportunity for our business – it shows just how much interest there is in the Prets menu from customers around the world.”
