Britain-based sandwich chain Pret A Manger posted a 20% jump in sales in the first six months of the year, boosted by international store openings, a growing weekend trade and a rise in demand for its subscription scheme.

First-half sales came in at 429.9 million pounds ($562 million), Pret said, ahead of the 357.8 million pounds it made in the same period last year, when the pandemic was still deterring travel to Pret's town centre locations.

Pret A Manger, owned by German conglomerate JAB Holding, also published last year's annual results which showed the company returned to a profit for the first time since 2018, reporting operating profit of 50.6 million pounds for 2022. ($1 = 0.7645 pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Paul Sandle)