RNS Number:4995U
Thorntons PLC
22 January 2004
                                                               22 January 2004

                                 Thorntons PLC



                            SALES TRADING STATEMENT

                         28 WEEKS ENDED 10 JANUARY 2004



Thorntons PLC, the speciality retailer and manufacturer of high quality
chocolate, toffee and other sweet foods, today reports sales figures for the 28
weeks ended 10 January 2004.



*         Total company sales increased by 4.4% to #109.3m.


*         Own shop sales increased by 2.4% on an estate virtually unchanged in
          size at 388 with the number of cafes rising by one to 27.


*         Own Shop like-for-like sales for the half year were +2.5%. Strong
          growth over Christmas resulted in like-for-like sales of +4.6% for the 
          seven weeks ended Saturday 27th December.  However, margin levels did 
          not fully meet our internal expectations.


*         franchise sales growth of only 1.3% despite 10 more outlets was
          mainly due to destocking and some short-term summer re-merchandising 
          into gifts and cards. In addition most Franchises do not sell ice 
          cream  in contrast to almost all our own stores.


*         Commercial: The strategy to widen distribution of Thorntons products
          into other retailers continues to be highly successful. Private label 
          commercial sales rose by 6.0% to #8.8m and Thorntons branded  
          commercial sales were up 140%, driven by new listings, to #3.6m.


*         Thorntons Gift Delivery Service sales fell by 2.9% to #3.3m which
          was a disappointment given the previous exceptional growth. However, 
          there is still great scope to continue growing this business.


*         Royalty income from the licensed range of cakes, puddings, biscuits
          and other sweet food was static at #248,000 in the half year, as a 
          result of our decision to concentrate on certain product categories 
          and discontinue others.



Peter Burdon, Chief Executive, commented: "I am pleased with the strong
performance over Christmas. Whilst I would have wished for our margin to have
been stronger, we were left with little surplus stock post Christmas. Progress
on new Commercial listings has been very good and we now have products on the
shelf of every major food retailer. We are developing the range further into 
this new market with a range of boxed chocolates and Easter eggs.

Whilst the turnaround in sales since the summer is very encouraging, we
recognise that creating consistent sales growth is key and this is central to
our strategy. In addition, we intend to give further impetus to margin and cost
improvement."



Thorntons plc will be announcing their Interim Results on Tuesday, 24th February
2004.

*         On 29th October the Company announced that preliminary discussions
were being held with a number of parties which may or may not lead to an offer
for the company. Those discussions are continuing and shareholders will be kept
informed as and when there is any material development.



For further information, please contact:

Sales Trading Statement:


Peter Burdon - Chief Executive, Thorntons PLC                     01773 540550
Martin Allen - Finance Director, Thorntons PLC                    01773 540550
Charles Ryland / Catherine Miles - Buchanan Communications        020 7466 5000
Corporate Issues:
John Jackson - Non-executive Director, Thorntons PLC              01243 622223





            1. Interim Sales Analysis


                                          First Half Sales   First Half Sales      Full Year Sales
                                                   2003/04            2002/03              2002/03
                                                        #m                 #m                   #m

Own shop                                              85.8               83.8                133.8
Franchise                                              7.8                7.7                 12.3
Private label commercial                               8.8                8.3                 12.6
Thorntons branded commercial                           3.6                1.5                  3.1
Gift Delivery Service                                  3.3                3.4                  5.3

TOTAL                                                109.3              104.7                167.1









            2. Comparison of 2003/2004 sales with the previous year


                                      28 weeks ending 10    28 weeks ending 11            Full Year 
                                            January 2004          January 2003              2002/03


Own shop                                            2.4%                    0%               (0.5)%
Franchise                                           1.3%                  9.7%                 8.8%
Private label commercial                            6.0%                (3.4)%                 3.3%
Thorntons branded commercial                      140.0%                161.0%                93.8%
Gift Delivery Service                             (2.9%)                 37.1%                26.2%

TOTAL                                               4.4%                  2.3%                 2.0%


Own Shops like-for-like                             2.5%                  1.6%                 0.9%





            3. Changes in the Retail estate can be summarised as follows


Opening number                                        389                   395                  395

New shops                                               2                     2                    3
Resites                                                 0                     2                    3
Closures                                              (3)                   (9)                 (12)

Closing number                                        388                   390                  389

Franchise shops trading                               201                   191                  198

Royalties from licensed Products (#000)               248                   251                  540




                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
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