Pret a Manger may be a London lunchtime staple but it has made a firm push for international growth, with over a third of its stores and a quarter of its sales now in international markets.
In its half-year results, the sandwich and coffee chain said its sales grew by 10 per cent year on year, to £569m.
The growth was driven by Pret’s “continued expansion into new markets”, the company said, with Pret now open for business in 18 markets.
“While the business remains proudly British-based and British-built, and continues to expand in nations and regions across the UK, a significant part of Pret’s future growth plan is international,” the company said.
It plans to open 10 new shops on the east coast of the US by 2026, with New York its “overseas capital”. In 2023, it opened 81 new shops worldwide, of which more than half were outside the UK.
“The fact that £1 in every £4 is now spent outside the UK is both an achievement and an opportunity for our business,” Pret A Manger Chief Executive, Pano Christou, said.
“I… look forward to taking Pret to even more people, in more places, next year,” Christou added.
The chain has struggled in recent years with consumer abandoning ship for cheaper offerings like Greggs, and has faced a rising tide of debts.
Earlier this year, it named Konrad Meyer as its new chairman as it shook up its board amid the push for international growth.
Meyer led the £1.5bn acquisition of Pret by the German company JAB in 2018 and has been a Pret A Manger board member since then.
Pret’s half-year results come as the company filed its 2023 accounts, which showed adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization of £166m for 2023, up 12 per cent on £147.8m in 2022.
The company’s shareholders also raised £250m of new capital in September this year to “reduce certain banking facilities and improve liquidity”, it said.