Greggs last paid a dividend in October 2019, after which the planned final dividend for 2019 was cancelled in order to preserve cash in the early months of the pandemic. Whilst there are still significant uncertainties in the months ahead, they now have a strong cash position and additional financing facilities to draw on if required.
With all this in mind the Board has declared an interim ordinary dividend of 15.0 pence per share. It is the Board's current intention to target a full-year ordinary dividend that is around two times covered by underlying earnings.
The Board acknowledges that the business will be carrying a higher-than-normal cash balance in the short term but believes this is a prudent position to adopt given the backdrop, and intends to return any surplus cash to shareholders in due course, in line with its longstanding policy.
The interim dividend will be paid on 8 October 2021 to those shareholders on the register at the close of business on 10 September 2021.
