THORNTONS PLC
THORNTONS PLC
("Thorntons" or "the Company")
FOURTH QUARTER AND YEAR END TRADING UPDATE
Thorntons today announces its trading update for the nine weeks and full year up to and including 28 June 2014. As this quarter is a nine week period (last year ten weeks), the figures for 2013 have been adjusted to allow comparison.
We are pleased that the rebalancing of our trading continued over the year, with strong growth in our FMCG division and the managed closure of 36 Own Stores. Profit for the full year is anticipated to be in line with market expectations*:
Sales |
Full year to
28 June '14 |
FMCG Division |
+7.9% |
- UK Commercial |
+9.9% |
- International |
+5.0% |
Retail Division |
-5.6% |
- Like-for-like |
+1.1% |
- Consumer Direct |
+15.4% |
- Franchise |
+1.9% |
Total Company |
+0.7% |
Total Company sales for the quarter increased by 0.6%.
FMCG Division - During the fourth quarter, the FMCG division continued to grow in line with the strategy to rebalance the business. Total sales in FMCG increased by 17.3%.
· UK Commercial sales increased by 22.2%
· International sales were down by £0.1m accounting for just under 3% of total revenue.
Retail Division - Overall sales declined by 11.1% with 11 stores being closed during the quarter:
· Like-for-like sales were down by 3.9%
· Consumer Direct sales decreased by 2.0%, accounting for just over 2% of total revenue
· Franchise sales declined by £0.1m.
Jonathan Hart, Thorntons' Chief Executive, commented:
"We are pleased to report a positive overall performance across the business for the year and anticipate profit to be in line with market expectations. Our FMCG division returned to growth during the quarter as a result of a strong performance in our UK Commercial channel. In line with previous periods, we saw no signs of improvement in consumer spending on the High Street during this quarter, which is our shortest and smallest quarter and accounts for around 10% of full year sales.
"The marketplace remains competitive and, in line with our strategy, we continue to focus on the profitability of the business which has improved considerably over the past three years. We are on track with our store closure programme which is focused on delivering a sustainable retail estate and remain confident that our strategy is the right one."
Divisional Sales (£m) | Q1 | Change % | Q2 | Change % | Q3 | Change % | Q4 | Change % | FY to 28-06-14 | Change % |
FMCG Division | 23.8 | +11.0 | 46.8 | +16.5 | 28.5 | (8.6) | 12.0 | +17.3 | 111.1 | +7.9 |
Retail Division - Like-for-like | 23.2 | (5.7) (0.4) | 46.0 | (3.2) +3.5 | 29.2 | (6.7) +1.2 | 13.0 | (11.1) (3.9) | 111.4 | (5.6) +1.1 |
Total Company | 47.0 | +2.1 | 92.8 | +5.8 | 57.7 | (7.6) | 25.0 | +0.6 | 222.5 | +0.7 |
* the board considers market expectations for the financial year ended 28 June 2014 are best defined by taking the range of forecasts of PBT published by analysts who consistently follow the Group. The current range of pre-exceptional PBT forecasts as at 8 July 2014, of which the board is aware, is £7.0m to £7.2m, with consensus at £7.1m (FY2013: £4.7m restated)
-ENDS-
For further enquiries please contact:
Nadja Vetter / Emma Crawshaw / Georgina Hall, Cardew Group T: 020 7930 0777
This document contains certain statements that are forward-looking statements. They appear in a number of places throughout this document and include statements regarding our intentions, beliefs or current expectations and those of our officers, Directors and employees concerning, amongst other things, our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, prospects, growth, strategies and the business we operate. By their nature, these statements involve uncertainty since future events and circumstances can cause results and developments to differ materially from those anticipated. The forward-looking statements reflect knowledge and information available at the date of preparation of this document and, unless otherwise required by applicable law, the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise these forward-looking statements. Nothing in this document should be construed as a profit forecast. The Company and its Directors accept no liability to third parties in respect of this document save as would arise under English law.
This information is provided by RNS
|
distributed by
|
