Trading Statement (7460F)
May 03 2011 - 2:02AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMTHT
RNS Number : 7460F
Thorntons PLC
03 May 2011
THORNTONS PLC
("Thorntons" or "the Company")
THIRD QUARTER TRADING UPDATE
& INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
Thorntons PLC today reported its third quarter trading update
for the 16 weeks up to and including 30 April 2011. While overall
Group sales since January were down slightly by 0.7%, the hot
weather conditions over the Easter trading period significantly
impacted our Own Stores, Franchise and Thorntons Direct
channels.
Own Store sales declined by 13.9% to GBP31.4 million with a like
for like sales decline of 12.6%. We experienced continued growth in
the Commercial channel where sales grew by 25.1% and our market
share in Easter seasonal lines is anticipated to have grown year on
year.
The Easter trading period equates to nearly 33% of the Q3 sales
in Own Stores and the weather in the Easter week contributed to a
like for like sales decline of 22.8% in comparison to the same week
last year. This combined with an ongoing challenging retail
environment results in the Board expecting profit before tax and
additional impairment charges for the year to 25 June 2011 to range
between GBP3.0 million and GBP4.5 million (2010: GBP6.1 million).
Through promotions we have managed our seasonal stocks well and
exited the Easter period with lower levels of stock compared to
last year.
Despite two key trading periods, Christmas and Easter, being
affected by unprecedented weather conditions, total sales for the
year to date increased by 2.9% compared to the same period last
year.
Key points:
-- Total sales declined slightly by 0.7% to GBP64.2 million. For
the year to date total sales increased by 2.9%.
-- Commercial sales grew by 25.1% to GBP27.7 million, with more
than 98% of these sales being Thorntons branded products.
-- Own Store sales decline of 13.9% to GBP31.4 million with a
like for like sales decline of 12.6%.
-- Franchise sales decreased by 21.4% to GBP2.7 million over the
period.
-- Thorntons Direct sales decreased by 7.9% to GBP2.4 million
with growth in the online consumer sales offset by a decline in
corporate sales.
Jonathan Hart, Thorntons' Chief Executive, commented:
"The past quarter has been extremely challenging particularly in
our Own Stores and for Franchisees and we foresee the prospect of
this weakness in high street footfall and spending continuing. We
have taken a number of actions including adjusting our trading
strategy and aggressively managing our overhead costs, as well as
ensuring that our production is geared to likely demand.
Additionally we took steps to ensure that our ice cream was
available in more stores than last year ahead of the Easter trading
period. However, these significant additional sales were
insufficient to offset the impact of the weather on those of our
core chocolate items. The process of my strategic review is well
under way and I look forward to presenting my conclusions in due
course."
Q1 Q2 Q3
14 weeks 14 weeks 16 weeks
to to to Year to
Sales growth % 02-10-10 08-01-11 30-04-11 Date
--------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
Own Stores -4.3% -6.8% -13.9% -8.5%
--------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
Franchise Stores -4.8% -5.4% -21.4% -9.9%
--------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
Thorntons Direct +18.6% +6.5% -7.9% +3.7%
--------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
Total Retail -3.5% -5.6% -14.1% -7.8%
--------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
Commercial Channel +35.8% +34.3% +25.8% +31.3%
--------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
Private label -63.6% -34.7% -10.1% -43.8%
--------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
Total Commercial +29.3% +32.1% +25.1% +28.6%
--------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
Total Company +7.4% +3.2% -0.7% +2.9%
--------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
Note:-
--------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
Total Company
excl Private label +9.0% +3.5% -0.7% +3.4%
--------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
Q1 Q2 Q3
14 weeks 14 weeks 16 weeks
Like for like to to to Year to
sales growth % 02-10-10 08-01-11 30-04-11 Date
----------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
Own stores -4.1% -5.9% -12.6% -7.5%
----------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- --------
Q1 Q2 Q3
14 weeks 14 weeks 16 weeks
to to to
Sales GBPm 02-10-10 08-01-11 30-04-11 Year to Date
-------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- -------------
Own Stores 26.0 48.1 31.4 105.5
-------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- -------------
Franchise Stores 2.8 5.0 2.7 10.5
-------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- -------------
Thorntons Direct 1.3 5.1 2.4 8.8
-------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- -------------
Total Retail 30.1 58.2 36.5 124.8
-------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- -------------
Commercial Channel 19.8 24.6 27.3 71.7
-------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- -------------
Private label 0.4 0.4 0.4 1.2
-------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- -------------
Total Commercial 20.2 25.0 27.7 72.9
-------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- -------------
Total Company 50.3 83.2 64.2 197.7
-------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- -------------
Note:-
-------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- -------------
Total Company excl
Private label 49.9 82.8 63.8 196.5
-------------------- ---------- ---------- ---------- -------------
Stores as Stores as
Portfolio at 08-01-11 New stores Resites Closures at 30-04-11
------------ ------------- ----------- -------- --------- -------------
Own stores 371 - - -2 369
------------ ------------- ----------- -------- --------- -------------
Franchise
stores 229 6 1 -10 226
------------ ------------- ----------- -------- --------- -------------
Total 600 6 1 -12 595
------------ ------------- ----------- -------- --------- -------------
END
For further information please contact:
Cardew Group T: 020 7930 0777
Nadja Vetter / Emma Crawshaw / Anthony Cardew
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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