Trading Statement
January 14 2010 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMTHT
RNS Number : 5165F
Thorntons PLC
14 January 2010
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thorntons PLC
Trading Update
Thorntons PLC ('Thorntons' or 'the Company') today reported its second quarter
trading update for the 14 weeks up to and including 9 January 2010. Trading was
satisfactory and the Company therefore expects that interim profits will be
ahead of last year and in line with Board expectations.
The period to 9 January 2010 was notably different to the comparative period
last year which included sales to Birthdays (Franchisee) and Woolworths
(Commercial customer) both of which subsequently went into administration.
Furthermore, we effectively ceased the production of private label products.
Excluding private label products, the Board is pleased to report that sales
across all channels increased by 3.0%. This, together with significantly lower
levels of discounting in the Own store retail estate, resulted in overall higher
margins.
Key points:
* Total sales declined by 2.4% to GBP80.7m. After excluding sales of private label
products, sales grew by 3.0%.
* Own store sales declined by 4.5% to GBP51.7m and like-for-like sales declined by
4.4% but benefited from higher gross margins.
* Franchise sales declined by 18.1% to GBP5.3m. In line with expectations, we were
able to re-open 24 stores with new franchisees during the period bringing the
total number of stores opened to 70 since the loss of 94 stores when Birthdays
went into administration in May 2009.
* Thorntons Direct sales increased by 10.9% to GBP4.7m. Consumer sales grew
strongly following the launch of the new website and increased marketing
activity. The corporate business returned to growth as a result of our sales
efforts in the leisure and hospitality sectors.
* Commercial sales increased by 6.5% to GBP19.0m. Sales of Thorntons branded
products grew by 42.6% more than offsetting the decline in the less profitable
private label sales.
Mike Davies, Thorntons' Chief Executive, commented:
"We saw a pleasing continuation of growth in Commercial sales and Thorntons
Direct during this important trading period. The decline in Own store sales was
disappointing although this was primarily driven by our own decision to protect
profit margins through significantly reduced discounting, but we were able to
sell all the Christmas stock by the end of the period."
Thorntons will announce its interim results for the twenty eight weeks ended 9
January 2010 on 17 February 2010.
+-------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Sales | Q1 | Q2 | H1 | H1 |
| growth % | 14 weeks | 14 weeks | 28 weeks | 28 weeks |
| | to | to | to | to |
| | 03-10-09 | 09-01-10 | 09-01-10 | 10-01-09 |
| | | | | |
+-------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Own stores | +1.9% | -4.5% | -2.4% | -2.1% |
+-------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Franchise | -15.2% | -18.1% | -17.1% | +3.7% |
| stores | | | | |
+-------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Thorntons | +2.4% | +10.9% | +9.1% | +1.2% |
| Direct | | | | |
+-------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Total | +0.0% | -4.9% | -3.3% | -1.4% |
| Retail | | | | |
+-------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Commercial | +40.4% | +42.6% | +41.6% | +18.0% |
| sales | | | | |
+-------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Private | -75.3% | -87.7% | -82.0% | -8.9% |
| label | | | | |
+-------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Total | +7.2% | +6.5% | +6.8% | +8.9% |
| Commercial | | | | |
+-------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Total | +2.3% | -2.4% | -0.7% | +1.0% |
| Company | | | | |
+-------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| | | | | |
+-------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
| Total | +10.1% | +3.0% | +5.5% | +1.9% |
| Company | | | | |
| excl. | | | | |
| Private | | | | |
| label | | | | |
+-------------+-----------+------------+------------+------------+
+---------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Like-for-like | Q1 | Q2 | H1 | H1 |
| sales growth | 14 weeks | 14 weeks | 28 weeks | 28 weeks |
| % | to | to | to | to |
| | 03-10-09 | 09-01-10 | 09-01-10 | 10-01-09 |
| | | | | |
+---------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Own stores | +1.3% | -4.4% | -2.5% | -4.2% |
+---------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Sales GBPm | Q1 | Q2 | H1 | H1 |
| | 14 weeks | 14 weeks | 28 weeks | 28 weeks |
| | to | to | to | to |
| | 03-10-09 | 09-01-10 | 09-01-10 | 10-01-09 |
| | | | | |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Own stores | 27.1 | 51.7 | 78.8 | 80.7 |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Franchise | 3.0 | 5.3 | 8.3 | 9.9 |
| stores | | | | |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Thorntons | 1.1 | 4.7 | 5.8 | 5.4 |
| Direct | | | | |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Total | 31.2 | 61.7 | 92.9 | 96.0 |
| Retail | | | | |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Commercial | 14.6 | 18.4 | 33.0 | 23.3 |
| sales | | | | |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Private | 1.0 | 0.6 | 1.6 | 9.1 |
| label | | | | |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Total | 15.6 | 19.0 | 34.6 | 32.4 |
| Commercial | | | | |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Total | 46.8 | 80.7 | 127.5 | 128.4 |
| Company | | | | |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| | | | | |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Total | 45.8 | 80.1 | 125.9 | 119.3 |
| Company | | | | |
| excl. | | | | |
| Private | | | | |
| label | | | | |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Portfolio | Stores as |New stores | Resites | Closures |Stores as |
| | at | | | | at |
| | 03-10-09 | | | | 09-01-10 |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Own stores | 378 | | 1 | -1 | 378 |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Franchise | 199 | 24 | | -1 | 222 |
| stores | | | | | |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
| Total | 577 | 24 | 1 | -2 | 600 |
+-------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+------------+
Ends
For further information please contact:
Cardew Group T: 020 7930 0777
Nadja Vetter / Emma Consett / Daniela Cormano
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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