The launch of a vegan sausage roll has helped bakery chain Greggs lift its full-year profit outlook after driving a surge in customers through its doors.
The group - which also recently increased profit expectations for 2018 - said trading had been boosted by "extensive publicity" surrounding the launch of the new savoury product at the start of January.
It cheered an "exceptionally strong" start to 2019 as the stir caused by the launch of the snack saw a jump in customer transactions.
The group posted a 9.6 per cent rise in like-for-like sales for the seven weeks to February 16, while total sales lifted 14.1%.
This compares with a 2.9% hike in like-for-like sales a year earlier, when trading was hit by extreme weather.
Above: Reporter Mason Boycott-Owen tested the vegan snack
Greggs said: "The rate of growth has eased slightly in February but the strength of trading is likely to have a material impact on the first-half result for 2019."
It added: "Overall the board now anticipates that 2019 full-year underlying profit before tax - excluding exceptional charges - is likely to be ahead of its previous expectations."
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January's news that Greggs was to sell a vegan-friendly sausage roll drew a flurry of responses online, including comments from Good Morning Britain TV host Piers Morgan and comedian Ricky Gervais.
Greggs sells 1.5 million sausage rolls a week but created the new option due to public demand after an online petition by Peta, calling for a vegan version, was signed by more than 20,000 people last year.
Holiday Inn owner InterContinental Hotels Group said it has increased rooms at its quickest rate in a decade as it reported a drop in profit on higher costs.
The hotel operator's pre-tax profit fell 26 per cent to $485 million (£375 million) in 2018 compared to the year earlier as it booked higher one-off costs related to the restructuring of its operations.
The company plans to deliver $125m worth of annual savings by 2020.
However, revenue increased 6% to $4.3 billion (£3.3bn) and revenue per available room - a closely watched metric for the hotel industry - grew 2.5%.
Shares rose 1.5% to 4,696p on the news.
The company said that it added 56,000 new rooms to its hotel estate last year, a 17% increase from 2017.
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InterContinental currently has 837,000 rooms across its global portfolio.
Chief executive Keith Barr said: "Our strategic focus on accelerating our net rooms growth helped drive a net system size increase of 4.8%, and our best performance for both openings and signings in a decade, leaving us well positioned for future growth".
Car giant Honda has confirmed plans to shut its factory in Swindon in 2021 with the loss of 3,500 jobs.
The Japanese firm told workers it proposed to close the vehicle manufacturing plant at the end of the current model's production lifecycle.
The plant currently produces 150,000 cars a year.
A statement said: "This proposal comes as Honda accelerates its commitment to electrified cars, in response to the unprecedented changes in the global automotive industry.
"The significant challenges of electrification will see Honda revise its global manufacturing operations, and focus activity in regions where it expects to have high production volumes."
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Honda said under the proposed restructure, the current role of its UK manufacturing business (HUM) as a global manufacturing hub may no longer be viable.
There was no mention of Brexit in Honda's statement.
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