Thorntons treated to rise in quarterly sales
THORNTONS reported a rise in fourth quarter sales yesterday as it cashed in on demand for all-things British with its “Best of British” range of London bus and Union Jack-themed chocolates.
The confectionary retailer, which is cutting 180 stores to save costs, said total sales for the three months to the end of June were £24.7m, up eight per cent compared with a year earlier. It said full-year profits will be in line with expectations.
Like-for-like sales at its owns stores rose 0.7 per cent while sales of its branded goods sold through other retailers such as supermarkets more than tripled to £9.3m in the nine-week period. But sales at franchises slumped 24 per cent due to Clinton Cards’ collapse, which ran 46 outlets.