Thorntons issues profit warning after weaker supermarket demand
The Derbyshire-based retailer, which has 249 stores, said its full-year earnings will be lower than last year due to weaker supermarket demand as the grocery sector grapples with difficult trading conditions.
It also blamed teething problems at a new centralised warehouse in Derbyshire which opened in the autumn but has resulted in lost and late sales.
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Hide AdShares slumped by as much as 27 per cent as the warning delivered a setback to the company’s continuing turnaround strat- egy.
Thorntons has relied on more sales through its commercial channels such as supermarkets as it comes to the end of a three-year plan that has seen it close dozens of its own stores. In October it told the market it expected to meet full-year pre-tax profit forecasts of £9.65m for the year to June, up almost a third from £7.5m in its last financial year.
It now expects profits for the current period will fail to grow after a “significant reduction” in previously-indicated orders from major grocers who also took in stock later than anticipated.
Independent retail analyst Nick Bubb said: “Embarrassingly, less than six weeks after an upbeat strategy update with analysts, today has brought a Christmas profit warning from Thorntons.”