Thorntons Announces Profit Warning

News is reaching us that Thorntons has announced a profit warning after poor sales this Easter due to more people buying their Easter eggs in supermarkets due to their cheaper prices.

I don’t expect sales were helped by the poor weather either as sales in their shops for the quarter to April 17th were down 4.9% and contributed £1.4m lower sales than forecast to “just” £7.5m.

Also they sold a third more of their products than the previous year via other retailers which meant they had lower margins. Their franchise sales fell 20.6% which is stagering, but their Thorntons Direct service grew 32.4% to £2.5m

As a result of this Thorntons shares fell 10%.

We think Thontons are fab so I’m sure they’ll bounce back as the economy returns.

Also read:

• Thorntons sees shares fall after 2010 profit warning – BBC
• Thorntons Q3 sales up, cautious on outlook – Just Food
• Thorntons’ shares melt after poor Easter – Guardian
• Thorntons profits hit by icy weather, competition – Telegraph
• Fair-weather shoppers force Thorntons warning – Times