Greggs updated the market on Thursday, reporting that LFL growth fell from 3.2% in the first eight weeks of 2018 to just 1.3% in the first 18 weeks, on the back of severe weather and weak customer footfall in retail locations. Excluding the Beast from the East week in February, LFL growth was around 2.2% during the period, implying the underlying slowdown is less stark, according to Berenberg, which said performance is still not as strong as it has been in recent periods. Berenberg now expects that Greggs will end 2019 with £55m net cash. As the company aims to maintain at least £40m net cash, the bank no longer reckons it would have capacity to pay a special dividend in that year unless it completes the sale of the closed bakery in Twickenham. At 1255 BST, the shares were down 0.5% to 1,061p.