UK chocolate manufacturer and retailer Thorntons has announced its half-year results for the 28 weeks ended 11 January 2014. Revenues increased by 4.5% to £139.7 million (2013: £133.7 million) while profit before tax and exceptional items grew by 47.3% to £7.2 million (2013 restated*: £4.9 million)
Sales in the FMCG division grew by 14.5% to £70.6 million (2013 restated: £61.6 million) and exceeded sales in the Retail division for the first time.
The company said that it is on track to close approximately 40 stores during the financial year, with 15 stores closing during the period, towards its objective of creating a store portfolio of between 180 and 200 stores in the medium-term.
"We are pleased to report further increases in both revenues and profits as we continue on our journey of transforming Thorntons towards an international FMCG business and UK multi-channel retailer,” said Jonathan Hart, Thorntons' chief executive. “Across our two divisions, all of our core channels have delivered positive results. We are particularly pleased to have maintained strong sales growth in our UK Commercial channel and achieved positive like-for-like growth in our Retail division. During the period we re-launched our Classics and Nostalgia ranges which were well received by our customers. The response to our seasonal specialities, especially our new Snowman licensed range, exceeded our expectations.”
"Overall we continue to be encouraged with the progress which has been made in implementing our strategy of Rebalancing the business, Revitalising the brand and Restoring profitability and we look forward to the key spring seasons of Mother's Day and Easter with confidence. Going forward our focus remains firmly on continuing our current strategy and maintaining the positive trajectory that we have established over the past two years. As a result of the growing production volumes we are also investing in increasing our manufacturing capacity to support our long-term objectives.
"As expected, the marketplace remains highly competitive and our consumers continue to seek value; our plans have been made accordingly. Our current outlook for the financial year remains in line with market expectations.”
