Cake Box Holdings PLC on Tuesday said sales momentum has increased in recent weeks, while input cost inflation has eased, and the retailer said its chair since listing will step down in the autumn.

In a trading update ahead of its annual general meeting on Tuesday, the Enfield, England-based chain of fresh cream cake shops said like-for-like sales were up 6.8% in the first 17 weeks of the financial year that began on April 1. This represents a pick-up from 5.4% growth in the first 11 weeks.

Looking ahead, Cake Box said it is on track for annual revenue growth in line with market expectations.

Cake Box also said it is seeing some improvement in input cost inflation, with fresh cream prices decreasing in the first quarter of financial 2024. It said it has passed part of this cost reduction onto its franchisees to help strengthen their margins.

Cake Box said it had £7.9 million in cash on July 30, prior to the payment of its final dividend for financial 2023, which will cost £2.2 million.

The company has opened 7 new franchise stores since April and now trades from 212 such stores.

Non-Executive Chair Neil Sachdev plans to step down at the company’s half-year results in November. Sachdev has been chair since Cake Box’s initial public offering on AIM in June 2018. The company will start to look for a replacement.

Cake Box shares were up 6.3% to 159.45 pence in London on Tuesday morning. The stock’s IPO price five years ago was 108p.

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