By James Davey

LONDON (Reuters) - British bakery and fast food chain Greggs said sales growth slowed further in the early weeks of 2025, hurt by "challenging" weather conditions in January, and it warned of a tough year ahead, hammering its shares.

Greggs, famous for its sausage rolls, steak bakes, vegan alternatives and sweet treats, said like-for-like sales rose 1.7% in the first nine weeks of the year, having disappointed with a rise of 2.5% in the Christmas quarter which it blamed on subdued consumer confidence.

Those figures compared to growth of 5.5% for 2024 as a whole.

Shares in Greggs were down 14% on Tuesday, extending 2025 losses to 35%.

"Looking ahead to 2025, the macroeconomic landscape remains tough. Inflation remains elevated, and many of our customers continue to worry about the cost of living," CEO Roisin Currie said.

She said January trading was dented by snow and ice which kept consumers away from stores and then Storm Eowyn which forced the closure of 250 stores in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Like-for-like sales growth in February improved to 2.5% and Currie said she was hopeful trading will be better in the second half of the year as confidence improves.

"A lot of that will depend on what the messaging out there is on the economy, so we'll wait to hear what the government's spring budget brings (on March 26)," she told Reuters in an interview.

Though official data showed British retail sales rose in January, consumer confidence surveys show households remain in a fairly glum mood, with confidence particularly weak among lower-income shoppers.

Despite the tough backdrop, Greggs is confident of managing inflationary headwinds and delivering another "year of progress" in 2025 after reporting a 13.2% increase in underlying pretax profit to 189.8 million pounds ($241.1 million) for 2024, on total sales up 11.3% to 2.01 billion pounds.

It opened 145 net new shops, ending the period with 2,618. Ultimately its sees scope for over 4,500.

($1 = 0.7873 pounds)

(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Sarah Young and Susan Fenton)