Greggs tipped to feel the chill as icy pavements deter customers

The City is used to Greggs, whose near-1,400 shops include 180 in Scotland, normally benefiting from cold weather as consumers buy more pies, pasties, sausage rolls and pizza slices.

But the market believes Britain's big freeze will have deterred shoppers from the high street because of iced-up pavements. That, it is thought, will have had a significant impact on Greggs's recent performance.

Darren Shirley, retail analyst at broker Shore Capital, said: "If we had just seen crisp, fresh days that would have helped the company's warm products.

"But Greggs is strong in Scotland and that has had quite strong snow since mid-December. That could have had a very adverse impact on footfall. I suspect that is far more likely to outweigh the positive of cold weather for the company's hot offering."

Matthew Wells, analyst at Brewin Dolphin, also said pavements that have become ice rinks in some places could impact negatively on the company. "Greggs normally does well in cold weather, what with its soup, pasties and the like. It can be a prime time for sales," Wells said.

"But it may well be the other way round this time with less footfall near the shops because of the ice."

Despite the looming negative impact of Britain's icebound city centres, analysts believe Greggs still remains on course for a strong performance over the year.

Shore Capital is forecasting a pre-tax profit for the year of 46.3m compared with 45.1m last year, and a final dividend of 10.3p (10p).

"Despite any short-term weather difficulties, Greggs remains a debt-free company which is a major virtue in these markets and will also help with its major expansion plans including significantly boosting its manufacturing infrastructure," one analyst said.

Greggs has said it intends to open up to 60 new shops this year and at least 70 a year from 2011.