TIDMTHT

RNS Number : 3240O

Thorntons PLC

10 October 2012

10 OCTOBER 2012

THORNTONS PLC

("Thorntons" or "the Company")

FIRST QUARTER TRADING UPDATE

& INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

Thorntons PLC today reports its first quarter trading update for the fourteen weeks up to and including 6 October 2012.

Key points:

   --    Trading for the period was in line with management expectations.

-- Total sales declined by 1.0% to GBP46.0 million, primarily due to the effect of the planned 36 Own Store closures in the previous financial year.

-- Commercial sales grew by 9.8% to GBP21.2 million. The order book for Christmas trading remains strong and in line with previous expectations.

-- Overall sales in Own Stores declined by 7.0% to GBP21.7 million largely reflecting the store closures. Ten further stores were closed during the period. Own Store like for like sales declined by 1.7%.

-- Franchise sales declined to GBP2.0 million as expected following the loss of sales resulting from the administration of our major franchisee partner in May 2012.

-- Thorntons Direct sales decreased by GBP0.1m to GBP1.1 million ahead of the launch of our new website.

Jonathan Hart, Thorntons' Chief Executive, commented:

"Consumer spending and the wider economy remain weak and difficult to predict. We are therefore cautious in our outlook for the peak trading season ahead and have set our plans accordingly.

"We continue to have confidence in our strategy to rebalance our business, revitalise our brand and restore profitability and are making good progress in its implemention. In our retail business our plans are stronger than last year, with innovative new products and dynamic promotions, and in the Commercial channel we remain encouraged by our strong order book.

"We continue to focus on improving profitability and are pleased that the margin improvements seen earlier in 2012 are continuing to flow through."

For further information please contact:

Cardew Group T: 020 7930 0777

Nadja Vetter / Emma Crawshaw

 
 Sales growth % 
                            Q1           Q1 
                          14 weeks     14 weeks 
                             to           to 
                          06-10-12     01-10-11 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Own Stores               -7.0%        -10.1% 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Franchise Stores         -23.8%       -6.4% 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Thorntons Direct         -8.5%        -8.1% 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Total Retail             -8.6%        -9.7% 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Commercial Channel       +4.9%        -4.9% 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Private label           +222.3%       +15.7% 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Total Commercial         +9.8%        -4.5% 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Total Company            -1.0%        -7.6% 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Note:- 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Total Company 
  excl Private label      -3.1%        -7.8% 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 
 
 Like for like 
  sales growth % 
                        Q1           Q1 
                      14 weeks     14 weeks 
                         to           to 
                      06-10-12     01-10-11 
-----------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Own stores           -1.7%        -7.8% 
-----------------  -----------  ----------- 
 
 
 Sales GBPm 
                            Q1           Q1 
                          14 weeks     14 weeks 
                             to           to 
                          06-10-12     01-10-11 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Own Stores                21.7         23.4 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Franchise Stores          2.0          2.6 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Thorntons Direct          1.1          1.2 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Total Retail              24.8         27.2 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Commercial Channel        19.8         18.9 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Private label             1.4          0.4 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Total Commercial          21.2         19.3 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Total Company             46.0         46.5 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Note:- 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 Total Company 
  excl Private label       44.6         46.1 
---------------------  -----------  ----------- 
 
 
  Portfolio    Stores as   New stores   Resites   Closures    Stores as 
                   at                                         at 06-10-12 
                30-06-12 
------------  ----------  -----------  --------  ---------  ------------- 
 Own stores       330          -           -        -10          320 
------------  ----------  -----------  --------  ---------  ------------- 
  Franchise 
    stores        177          6           -         -1          182 
------------  ----------  -----------  --------  ---------  ------------- 
    Total         507          6           -        -11          502 
------------  ----------  -----------  --------  ---------  -------------

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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