Chocolate shoppers kept it short and sweet

BRITISH chocolate maker Thorntons indicated that a Christmas rush for its confectionery had failed to materialise by revealing its sales performance had deteriorated.

Thorntons pointed the finger at the challenging retail climate in Britain for a 4.9% decline in like-for-like sales at its estate of 369 shops during the 26 weeks to Christmas Eve.

The figure was worse than the 4.4% fall for the first 15 weeks of the financial year reported by the company, which is still in talks over a possible takeover offer, at the time of its annual meeting in October.

Total sales, including sales of chocolates through supermarkets such as Tesco and Sainsbury’s, fell even more sharply - down 6.5% at €159.2 million over the six months compared with a 4.8% fall for the earlier period.

The update was designed to give investors a flavour of trading and Thorntons said a detailed statement “covering all sectors of the business” for the 28 weeks to January 7 would be made in a fortnight’s time.

Teather & Greenwood analyst David Stoddart expected to cut his earlier forecasts for annual pre-tax profits of £8.5m in the light of the update, but wanted more details on cost control and support for margins. Thorntons was not a so-called “destination store” and it was reliant on a busy high street and shoppers making impulse purchases. Based at Somercotes in Derbyshire, Thorntons makes about 60% of its first-half sales over Christmas. The company has more than 215 franchises in addition to its own stores.