Supermaket boost for chocolate maker

CHOCOLATE maker Thorntons today said trading remained challenging despite tasting a 10% rise in half-year profits.

Pre-tax profits rose to £13.3m in the six months to 8 January, with most sales growth coming from sales through other retailers amid 'difficult' Christmas trading.

Thorntons is now pinning its hopes on a satisfactory Easter performance in order to meet full-year market expectations.

Chairman Christopher Burnett said: 'The retail environment remains both competitive and challenging and the second six months performance, as usual, will depend on the sales achieved over Easter.'

The group was lifted by its strategy of selling confectionery to other retailers, with sales to other stores increasing by £9.8m to £13.4m in the six months.

Thorntons chocolates are now stocked by stores such as Tesco, Sainsbury's, WH Smith and Woolworths, following a strategy change aimed at halting a five-year run of declining profits.

Thorntons said it had started to monitor the two-year-old Outward Growth strategy 'to ensure that own shop and franchise sales are not being impacted upon'.

The interim dividend was left unchanged at 1.95p. Thorntons shares, which have underperformed the UK food and drug retailers sector by 3% over the past 12 months, were up 4p at 157½p by mid-morning.