Thorntons shows signs of recovery after tough year

Chocolate retailer Thorntons today offered some cheer after a tough year as it said its performance had improved “substantially” in recent months.

The chain reported a less-than-feared 25.8% fall in annual underlying pre-tax profits to £6.3m (€7.1m) after seeing sales pick up in the final six months and as cost cutting benefits came through.

But Thorntons admitted the financial crisis “could not have hit us at a worse time”, coming during its peak selling Christmas quarter, while the administrations of its Birthdays franchisee and key customer Woolworths added to a tough 12 months.