Sales at the UK manufacturer and retailer of premium chocolates and confectionary Thorntons have declined by 5.9% for the year to 24 June, the company said today (17 July), despite a brisker second half which was boosted by Easter.

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Thorntons said that sales for the 52 weeks totalled GBP176.6m (US$321m), compared to GBP187.7m reported for the previous year.


Retail sales were hurt by store closures and declined by 5.3%, while like-for-like sales were down 3.7% for the full year. However, the company noted, second quarter like-for-like sales were only down 1.8%, bolstered by strong Easter sales.


Commercial sales to other retailers decreased by 10.7% to GBP31.2m, reflecting Thorntons’ decision to withdraw from a major high street account and the restructuring of the company’s offering at Marks & Spencer. Factoring out these issues, sales to retailers grew by 11.2% for the full period and 11.4% in the second quarter.
 
Franchise sales dropped 4.4% to GBP12.9m, as the number of franchises decreased from 216 to 212.


Thorntons Direct sales were up 6.4% to GBP5.5m.

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John von Spreckelsen, chairman, commented: “Thorntons sells excellent chocolates and ice cream. We need to focus on convincing more customers to buy these quality products.”


Delivering the sales and trading update, Spreckelsen also took the opportunity to announce the appointment of Barry Bloomer as operations director.


“Barry joined us last summer from Black & Decker, where he was European operations director. In his 12 months with us, he has already made substantial improvements in our manufacturing, sourcing and distribution activities,” Spreckelsen said.