Greggs, the bakery and fast food chain, has used the publication of its annual results for 2021 to warn that rising cost pressures will limit the company’s profit growth.

Within the report, CEO Roger Whiteside explained that Greggs was expecting cost inflation between 6-7% in 2022. The report cited the rising cost of raw materials, energy and staff wages as driving this inflation.

The company refused to rule out customers sharing the burden of rising costs by increasing the prices of products. In January, Greggs raised its prices widely by up to 10p.

Whiteside said that while like-for-like sales growth during the first nine weeks of the year were 3.7% ahead of 2020 levels, the outlook for the future was more challenging. He said: “We have started 2022 well, helped by the easing of restrictions.

“Cost pressures are currently more significant than our initial expectations and, as ever, we will work to mitigate the impact of this on customers, however given this dynamic we do not currently expect material profit progression in the year ahead.”