An IT glitch that stopped Greggs from using its card machines wiped more than half-a-per cent off the company’s value today, equivalent to the cost of 13 million sausage rolls.
Chaos unfolded across Greggs chains this morning after a payments issue forced them to go cash only, with some of its outlets even closing.
Just before midday, Greggs told City A.M.: “We have now resolved the technical issue that affected tills in some of our shops earlier this morning.”
“The majority of shops affected are now able to take card and cash payments again and we expect the issue to be fully resolved shortly. We apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused to our customers.”
But the damage had been done. Greggs closed the previous day at 2,830.00p, and by 10am on Wednesday had dropped to 2,826.12 by just after 8am, and 2.794.04 by just after 1pm.
Greggs value recovered a little, to 2,818.04, but was still 0.42 per cent down.
The company has a market capitalisation of £2.89bn, meaning so far today it has seen just over £12m knocked off.
Analysis by financial platform Stocklytics showed that by 10am, Greggs’ was down 0.57 per cent, which equates to having £16m wiped off its value.
When placing this in terms of its most famous baked good, the humble sausage roll, this means there had been 13 million-sausage rolls’ worth of value written off the company.
And it wouldn’t be proper without also putting it in terms of double-decker buses. That’s 44 double-decker buses worth (you can trust us, we’ve done the maths.)
A Stocklytics spokesperson said: “While the high-street chain may be a go-to destination for baked goods, it appears that disgruntled customers may not be the only ones disappointed by issues affecting stores today.
Greggs shared dropped, as commuters were heading to work but were unable to get their sausage rolls.
“With shops reportedly closing due to ongoing technical issues, it has had a direct impact on the company’s market value, with a staggering loss of £16 million this morning alone – the equivalent of 13 million sausage rolls.
“However, given the popularity of their pastry-based snacks, it looks certain that when trading can resume the company should recoup the lost value in little time at all.”
Greggs has been one of the UK’s major success stories, with its value soaring in recent years thanks to its cheap and cheerful offerings around the country.
Analyst at Panmure Gordon said that this is up from a previous figure of £1.60 as Brits are ramping up their consumption of steak-bakes and sausage rolls.