BAKERY group Greggs has toasted strong sales of takeaway sandwiches and sav-ouries as first-half profits rose by 22 per cent.

The Newcastle group said that like-for-like growth surged across its 1,119 shops, helping to offset the higher costs of ingredients.

Greggs has been focusing on improving its range of takeaway foods, soft drinks and snacks, as sales of bread and rolls continue to decline.

Group like-for-like sales in the six months to June 16, rose by 6.9 per cent, as turnover shot forward 9.1 per cent to £161.7m.

The sales growth pushed pre-tax profits up to £9.6m, compared to £7.8m in the first half of last year, a record for the group.

Greggs' managing director, Mike Darrington, said the group had made "excellent progress", with customer numbers up at its town and city centre stores.

The increase offset the adverse effects of the foot-and-mouth crisis on Greggs' shops in tourist areas.

Mr Darrington said the recent hot weather had slowed sales growth since the start of the second half, but he said the group remained confident of achieving a good year as a whole.

He said: "Trading in the second half has started relatively slowly, as a result of the hot weather. Further ingredient cost increases are in prospect and performance will also be affected by a less favourable trading pattern over Christmas."

Greggs makes the lion's share of its profits in the second-half and the City has pencilled in full-year forecasts of £29m.

The group opened 25 new shops in the first six months of the year, and said it hoped to open ten more before the year-end.

The store opening will be mainly under the Greggs brand, rather than the group's smaller Baker's Oven chain, which continued to stutter in the first half.

Volumes at the chain were down 1.1 per cent. Like-for-like growth was 2.6 per cent.

Mr Darrington said that the performance was disappointing.

It could be explained by lower exposure to the "buoyant takeaway market", due to its seated catering areas.

Looking to the second half of the year, Mr Darrington said: "We will increasingly derive benefits from our shop opening programme, our strong position in the takeaway food market, and the progressive bulked-up returns on our substantial investment programme.

"Overall, we remain confident of achieving very good progress over the year as a whole."

Shareholders will receive an interim dividend of 31.3p per share, up from 21p last time.