Pret a Manger has returned to profit for the first time since 2018, driven by the success of its coffee subscription service and an international expansion push.
The sandwich chain recorded an operating profit of £50.6m in the year to December 2022, having made an operating loss of £226m when the company was hit hard by the pandemic.
While the coffee chain did not provide turnover figures for 2022, it said sales for the first half of 2023 grew 20% to £429.9m.
Pret attributed strong early sales to the relaunch of its Club Pret coffee subscription scheme in April 2023, which led to record sales weeks in May and June.
Operating over 600 stores, its coffee subscription memberships grew to 57.9 million in 2022, up from 34.7 million in 2021.
The majority (55%) of new shops opened last year were outside the capital, in places including Bishop’s Stortford and Worthing.
It also launched its first store in Italy in May, which is now the seventh new country in which it has opened since September 2021, as part of plans to double the size of the business by 2026.
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Pret CEO Pano Christou commented: “It’s been three years of transformation at Pret, in which we’ve evolved into a truly global, multichannel brand, and emerged as a stronger business than we were in 2019.
“We’re focused on continuing to grow, while constantly innovating to bring Pret’s freshly made food and organic coffee to brand new places, from Bishop’s Stortford to Bradford and from Italy to India.
“We’re now bringing Pret to even more people thanks to our excellent franchise partners in the UK and around the world.”
He added: “This type of sustainable growth has also given us the confidence to keep investing where it really matters – in our people, with well-deserved pay rises, in our most loyal customers, by expanding our Club Pret subscription, and in helping our local communities via the Pret Foundation.”
The news comes as the sandwich and coffee chain revealed that it will be providing 7,870 UK shop staff with a third pay rise next year, as it looks to further support its workforce amid the cost-of-living crisis.
