On Tuesday morning Greggs Plc, the Newcastle headquartered bakery chain released a trading update to investors which said total sales were up 5.2% in 2015 compared to the prior year, in line with management’s previous expectations.

Greggs was one of the top performing shares in the FTSE last year rising by roughly 65% after releasing three FY guidance improvements in less than six months.

Chief Executive of the company, Roger Whiteside said:

“2015 saw us deliver another excellent year of progress as we continue to transform Greggs into a modern, well-invested food-on-the-go retailer.

“We anticipate that we will report full year results for 2015 in line with our previous expectations. In the year ahead we will continue with the implementation of our strategic plan to enable the business to compete more effectively in the food-on-the-go market.”

As of 2nd January 2016 the firm had 1,698 shops after opening 122 new shops and closing 74 in 2015.

In the update the company said like-for-like sales growth slowed to 2.3 per cent in the fourth quarter as they came up against stronger comparatives and the impact of weaker footfall in some shopping locations.

Notably they said customer demand for breakfast-on-the-go has been their fastest growing part of the day with sales of coffee continuing to grow strongly.

“Since our last update, trading has been broadly consistent with our plans and we anticipate that we will report full year results in line with our previous expectations when we make our preliminary announcement on 1 March 2016.”

In the year ahead Greggs said it plans to continue with the implementation of its strategic plan to transform the business allowing it to be “ever more competitive in the food-on-the-go market” whilst pushing business efficiencies and adding capacity for future sustainable growth.