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| Thu 11:46 | RNS |
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RNS Number : 7743C Thorntons PLC 19 November 2009 NOTIFICATION OF TRANSACTIONS OF DIRECTORS, PERSONS DISCHARGING MANAGERIAL RESPONSIBILITY OR CONNECTED PERSONS This form is intended for use by an issuer to make a RIS notification required by DR 3.1.4R(1).
Please complete all relevant boxes should in block capital letters.
THORNTONS PLC
Director in 3. above
the number of shares held by each of them
If a person discharging managerial responsibilities has been granted options by the issuer complete the following boxes
01773 542384 Name and signature of duly authorised officer of issuer responsible for making notification Mark R. Henson - Company Secretary____________________________________________________ Date of notification 19 November 2009 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
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| 11-11-09 | RNS |
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RNS Number : 3524C Thorntons PLC 11 November 2009 TR-1(i): NOTIFICATION OF MAJOR INTERESTS IN SHARES 1. Identity of the issuer or the underlying issuer of existing shares to which voting rights are attached (ii):
THORNTONS PLC 2. Reason for the notification (please state Yes/No): ( ) An acquisition or disposal of voting rights: ( Yes ) An acquisition or disposal of financial instruments which may result in the acquisition of shares already issued to which voting rights are attached: ( ) An event changing the breakdown of voting rights: ( ) Other (please specify) : ( ) 3. Full name of person(s) subject to the notification obligation (iii): Hghclere International Investors Ltd 4. Full name of shareholder(s) (if different from 3.) (iv): The Highclere International Investors International Smaller Companies Fund The Highclere (Jersey) International Investors Smaller Companies Fund
5. Date of the transaction (and date on which the threshold is crossed or reached if different) (v):
6. Date on which issuer notified: 11 November 2009 7. Threshold(s) that is/are crossed or reached: below 3% 8. Notified details:
A: Voting rights attached to shares
possible using the ISIN CODE
Resulting situation after the triggering transaction (vii)
possible using the ISIN CODE
B: Financial Instruments Resulting situation after the triggering transaction (xii)
Total (A+B) Number of voting rights % of voting rights
9. Chain of controlled undertakings through which the voting rights and/or the financial instruments are effectively held, if applicable (xv): Proxy Voting: 10. Name of the proxy holder: Highclere International Investors Ltd 11. Number of voting rights proxy holder will cease to hold:
N/A 12. Date on which proxy holder will cease to hold voting rights:
N/A 13. Additional information: Highclere International Investors Ltd ("Highclere") acts as an investment manager for the clients detailed in 4. above ( its "Clients"). In acting for its Clients, Highclere is given full discretion over their investments and is empowered to vote on their behalf. However, Highclere do not act as its Clients' custodian and therefore shares are not held in its name but in the nominee name of the custodian bank.
14. Contact name: Mark R. Henson - Company Secretary 15. Contact telephone number: 01773 542384 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
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| 10-11-09 | RNS |
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RNS Number : 2947C Thorntons PLC 10 November 2009
THORNTONS PLC
Thorntons plc (the "Company") announces that Mark Robson, the incoming Finance Director of the Company, has been granted market value options over ordinary shares in the capital of the Company under the Company's Long Term Incentive Plan 2007 as follows: Grant Date: 9 November 2009 Period in which the option can be exercised: 9 November 2012 - 9 November 2019 Amount paid for grant of option: nil Description of shares involved: Option over a maximum of 243,070 Ordinary shares of 10p Exercise price: 117.25p per share Total number of options following notification: 243,070 On the same date, Mark Robson was also granted a restricted share award over 76,759 ordinary shares in the capital of the Company ("Shares"). The grant of the restricted share award is a one-off award to facilitate the recruitment of Mark Robson, in lieu of entitlements foregone, made pursuant to Listing Rule 9.4.2(2) and will be satisfied by the transfer of existing shares. Mark Robson is permitted to sell a proportion of the Shares within 7 days of the award date solely in order to meet the tax and social security liability arising at the award date. The balance of the Shares will vest on the third anniversary of the grant date and is subject to continued employment at that time. Contact: Mark R. Henson - Company Secretary Tel: 01773 542384 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
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| 22-10-09 | RNS |
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RNS Number : 2515B Thorntons PLC 22 October 2009 22 October 2009
THORNTONS PLC Results of AGM Thorntons PLC announces that, at its AGM held earlier today, all resolutions were approved by shareholders on a show of hands. A breakdown of proxy votes lodged prior to the AGM is set out below.
For further information please contact:
Emma Consett
This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
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| 21-10-09 | RNS |
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RNS Number : 1639B Thorntons PLC 21 October 2009 NOTIFICATION OF TRANSACTIONS OF DIRECTORS, PERSONS DISCHARGING MANAGERIAL RESPONSIBILITY OR CONNECTED PERSONS This form is intended for use by an issuer to make a RIS notification required by DR 3.1.4R(1).
Please complete all relevant boxes should in block capital letters.
Barry Bloomer - Sales & Operations Director Mike Davies - Chief Executive Peter Wright - Marketing Director 5. Indicate whether the 6. Description of
non-beneficial interest
PDMRs in 3. above
if more than one, the number of shares held by each of them
If a person discharging managerial responsibilities has been granted options by the issuer complete the following boxes
Name and signature of duly authorised officer of issuer responsible for making notification Mark R. Henson - Company Secretary____________________________________________________ Date of notification 21 October 2009 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
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| 12-10-09 | RNS |
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RNS Number : 6014A Thorntons PLC 12 October 2009
THORNTONS PLC
ANNUAL INFORMATION UPDATE THORNTONS PLC ("the Company") is pleased to provide an annual information update in accordance with the requirements of the Prospectus Rule 5.2. This update refers to information that has been published or made available by the Company to the public over the twelve months ended on 9 October 2009. To avoid an unnecessarily lengthy document, information is referred to in this update rather than included in full. In accordance with Article 27(3) of the Prospectus Rules, the information referred to in this update was up to date at the time the information was published but some information may now be out of date. This annual information update does not constitute an offer of any securities addressed to any person and should not be relied on by any person.
DATE REGULATORY HEADLINE
11 September 2009 Director/PDMR shareholding
Copies of all announcements can be downloaded from the Company's website www.thorntons.co.uk or obtained from the Regulatory News Service of the London Stock Exchange.
The documents listed below were filed with the Registrar of Companies in England and Wales on the dates indicated. Copies of these documents can be obtained from Companies House.
DATE BRIEF DESCRIPTION
4 March 2009 Interim Report 2009 23 September 2009 Annual Report & Accounts 2009 and Notice of Annual General Meeting Copies of the documents have been submitted to the UK Listing Authority for inspection at their Document Viewing Facility, and can also be obtained from the Company Secretary, THORNTONS PLC, Thornton Park, Somercotes, Alfreton, Derbyshire, DE55 4XJ. for further enquiries, contact: Mark R. Henson -Company Secretary Telephone: 01773 542384 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
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| 12-10-09 | RNS |
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RNS Number : 5979A Thorntons PLC 12 October 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 12 OCTOBER 2009
THORNTONS PLC ("Thorntons" or "the Company")
FINANCE DIRECTOR Further to the announcement on 27 July 2009, Thorntons is pleased to confirm that Mark Robson will join the Company on 2 November 2009. He will succeed John Wall as Finance Director on his formal appointment to the Board on 4 December 2009, at which time John Wall will step down. Mike Davies, Thorntons' Chief Executive, said: "We look forward to Mark joining Thorntons and, on behalf of the Board, I would like to extend my thanks to John and wish him well for the future."
END For further information please contact:
Nadja Vetter / Emma Consett This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
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| 08-10-09 | RNS |
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RNS Number : 4519A
Thorntons PLC
08 October 2009
NOTIFICATION OF TRANSACTIONS OF DIRECTORS, PERSONS DISCHARGING MANAGERIAL RESPONSIBILITY OR CONNECTED PERSONS
This form is intended for use by an issuer to make a RIS notification required by DR 3.1.4R(1).
Please complete all relevant boxes should in block capital letters.
Chairman 5. Indicate whether the 6. Description of
non-beneficial interest
if more than one, the number of shares held by each of them
If a person discharging managerial responsibilities has been granted options by the issuer complete the following boxes
01773 542384 Name and signature of duly authorised officer of issuer responsible for making notification Mark R. Henson - Company Secretary____________________________________________________ Date of notification : 8 October 2009 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
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| 07-10-09 | AFX UK Focus |
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LONDON, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Thorntons PLC:
((London Equities Newsroom; +44 20 7542 7717)) (For more news, please click here)
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. More |
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| 07-10-09 | RNS |
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RNS Number : 3410A Thorntons PLC 07 October 2009
THORNTONS PLC ("Thorntons" or "the Company")
FIRST QUARTER TRADING UPDATE
AND INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT Thorntons PLC today reported its first quarter trading update for the 14 weeks up to and including 3 October 2009. Highlights:
Mike Davies, Thorntons' Chief Executive, commented: "We are pleased to report satisfactory trading in the first quarter with overall growth of 2.3%, particularly as the comparative period included both Woolworths and Birthdays as customers. We are in the process of adding several products to our offering and have just launched the new Christmas range in our stores. We continue to innovate and improve our performance which puts us in a good position ahead of our key Christmas trading period."
03-10-09 04-10-08
03-10-09 04-10-08
03-10-09 04-10-08
END For further information please contact:
Nadja Vetter / Emma Consett This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
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| 25-09-09 | RNS |
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RNS Number : 6230Z Thorntons PLC 25 September 2009
THORNTONS PLC
THORNTONS ANNUAL REPORT 2009
A copy of Thorntons plc 2009 Annual Report, together with Notice of the Annual General Meeting has been submitted to the UK Listing Authority and is available for inspection at the UK Listing Authority's Documents Viewing Facility, which is situated at: Financial Services Authority 25 The North Colonnade Canary Wharf London
E14 5HS Telephone - 020 7676 1000 The Annual Report 2009 and Notice of Annual General Meeting is also now available on the Company's investor relations website: http://investors.thorntons.co.uk/ For further information please contact: Mark R. Henson Company Secretary 01773 542384 25 September 2009 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
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| 11-09-09 | RNS |
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RNS Number : 9183Y Thorntons PLC 11 September 2009
THORNTONS PLC
NOTIFICATION OF TRANSACTIONS Thorntons notifies the following share transactions in accordance with DTR 3.1.2 R:
Mark Robson, who is joining the Company as Finance Director later this year, has also purchased 10,000 ordinary shares on 10 September 2009 at a price of 110.5p per share. For further information please contact: Mark R. Henson Company Secretary 01773 542384 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
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| 09-09-09 | AFX UK Focus |
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LONDON, Sept 9 (Reuters) - Thorntons PLC:
birthdays franchises
((London Equities Newsroom; +44 20 7542 7717)) (For more news, please click here)
COPYRIGHT Copyright Thomson Reuters 2009. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of Reuters News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Thomson Reuters. More |
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| 09-09-09 | RNS |
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This news article is displayed preformatted as it may contain results tables
RNS Number : 7062Y
Thorntons PLC
09 September 2009
For Immediate Release
Thorntons PLC
Announcement of Preliminary Results
Thorntons Plc ("Thorntons" or "the Company") today announced its preliminary results for the 52 weeks ended 27 June 2009.
Key points
* Revenues increased 3.2% to £214.8 million (2008: £208.1 million)
* Profit before tax* decreased by 4.5% to £8.1million (2008: £8.5 million)
* The operating loss that historically occurs in the second half of the year was reduced by 80.1% to £0.6 million (2008: £2.8 million)
* Basic earnings per share have decreased 40.7% from 9.1p to 5.4p impacted by a higher tax charge
* Net debt was reduced by £1.6 million over the year
* Since the year end the Company agreed new bank facilities committed for three years
* The Board recommends a final dividend of 4.85p (2008: 4.85p)
* Profit before tax includes exceptional items which give rise to a £1.8 million net credit, as described in note 2.
Mike Davies, Thorntons' Chief Executive, said:
"I am pleased to report good overall sales growth for the year in a difficult economic environment. Following the implementation of a number of initiatives earlier in the financial year, performance in the second half improved substantially.
"During the year, we implemented a number of prudent cost control measures and focused on management of the balance sheet. We cleared stocks during the difficult pre-Christmas trading period and managed to reduce debt for the year as a whole. In addition we continued to innovate and invest in the future across both our product range and in our Retail and Manufacturing infrastructure. We launched the new "Choc Block" range in Retail and the new chocolate box range in the Commercial channel, refreshed the Christmas and Spring season ranges and introduced various new ice cream flavours. We also made substantial investments in our new EPOS system and in manufacturing.
"Discussions are progressing well with both Clinton Cards and other potential franchisees to replace lost sales following the closure of 94 Birthdays franchises. Currently, 37 stores have already reopened, with a further 38 stores expected to start trading before Christmas.
"Since the year end, the Company has agreed new committed bank facilities for three years. This, together with the changes we have made this year, puts us in a good position to emerge from the recession a more profitable business. As a result Thorntons is well placed to continue its long term growth strategy and we remain optimistic about the future.
Ends
For further information please contact:
Cardew Group T: 020 7930 0777
Nadja Vetter / Emma Consett / Daniela Cormano
Chairman's statement
Three years ago we started to implement a new strategy, putting the customer at the forefront of our thinking and strengthening the foundations of the business in line with our long-term goals. Since then we have grown sales by almost £40 million, from £176 million to £215 million, introduced many successful new products, increased our multichannel offer and invested significant sums in new point of sale systems and factory automation.
However, Thorntons has not been immune to the global economic downturn. The pressures, which were most evident during the first half of the financial year, resulted in us taking the prudent but difficult decision to reduce the first half dividend in line with the reduction in earnings. I am pleased to report however that, following the implementation of a number of management initiatives earlier in the year, performance in the second half improved significantly and we delivered net sales growth of 6.1% and reduced the loss before taxation and exceptionals by £2.5 million. We also reduced net debt over the year by £1.6 million. In August 2009, the Company agreed new committed bank facilities for three years and as a result the Company is well placed to continue its long term growth strategy and I remain optimistic about the future.
Our strategy remains just as relevant now as it was before the recession and we remain focussed on driving the business forward and delivering sustainable growth in earnings per share supported by a strong balance sheet.
We will achieve this by :
· continuing to develop innovative new products
· improving our UK retail performance across all three channels (Own Stores, Franchise and Thorntons Direct)
· further expanding Commercial sales
· improving productivity in Operations (purchasing, manufacturing and logistics)
· selective development of export sales
In July we took a further step towards "decoupling" the business by creating two business units namely "Sales & Operations" and "Retail". Barry Bloomer, MD, Sales & Operations, will run Commercial sales in addition to his existing role in charge of Purchasing, Manufacturing and Distribution. The Retail Business Unit will continue to be headed by the Director of Retail, Lysanne McCallion, adding responsibility for Thorntons Direct to that for Store Operations, Trading, Property and Franchise. While there is still a clear interdependence between the two business units, the split will allow us greater clarity in communicating our strategy and an ability to benchmark our performance against other successful retailers and manufacturers. Marketing, Finance and HR remain as single functions supporting both businesses.
The progress we have made, most notably in the second half, would not have been possible without the hard work, dedication and commitment of all our staff and I would like to express my deep gratitude for all their efforts.
Earlier this year, John Wall, our Finance Director, informed us of his decision to step down from the Board by January 2010. On behalf of the Board I would like to thank John for his invaluable service to Thorntons over the past five years and for his commitment to ensuring an orderly transition prior to his departure. While we will be sorry to lose John, I am delighted that Mark Robson has agreed to join Thorntons as his successor. Mark has extensive experience in the retail and consumer goods sectors, most recently with Somerfield Ltd, now part of the Co-operative Group. I would also like to thank Martin Davey, who retired from the Board as Non-Executive Director in December, for his valuable contribution to the Company and welcome Diana Houghton as a new Non-Executive Director to the Board. Diana brings with her a wealth of experience in branded product manufacturing and strategy consulting and has taken on the role of Chair of the Audit Committee.
I am pleased to report that the Board has recommended a final dividend of 4.85p per share unchanged from last year which, subject to Shareholder approval, will be paid on 27 November 2009.
John von Spreckelsen
Chairman
8 September 2009
Chief Executive's report
Over the past year, we acted decisively to manage the business during the recession and I am pleased with the overall result. Sales increased by 3.2%, profit before taxation fell 4.5% to £8.1 million (including exceptional items) and we reduced our debt by £1.6 million by the year end. From a retail perspective, the peak of the crisis, in the eight to ten weeks before Christmas, could not have hit us at a worse time, as historically 40% of Thorntons' annual sales and most of its profits are generated during the Christmas quarter. This reinforces the importance of our long term goal to reduce our financial dependency on Christmas.
The decision to focus on the balance sheet, by discounting to clear stocks and collect cash before Christmas, and by implementing further cost management initatives to protect the business going forward, paid off in the second half of the year, supported by a 6.1% sales growth. The second half operating loss (excluding exceptionals) reduced from £2.8 million last year to £0.6 million and our debt was reduced by £1.6 million over the year to £26.7 million. All this was achieved despite losing Woolworths as a major customer before Christmas and incurring a bad debt of £0.5 million when our largest franchisee, Birthdays Ltd, was placed into administration in May.
Notwithstanding the impact of the recession we continued to focus on the implementation of our strategy as follows:-
Product Innovation
2009 has seen a series of product success stories for Thorntons, most notably amongst our leading sharing brand 'Thorntons Moments' and our stylish, luxury bar range 'Chocolate Blocks'. Family favourite 'Moments' hit £10 million sales in its first full year of trading and 'Chocolate Blocks' doubled the sales of the old range. However, the success of 'Chocolate Blocks' isn't just evident in its sales figures; new additions to the range in 2009 have picked up an impressive five industry awards from the prestigious Academy of Chocolate and the Great Taste Awards. These award winning bars have been created by Thorntons' Master Chocolatier, Keith Hurdman, using the finest single origin chocolate, and flavours that have surprised and delighted our customers, such as tonka bean, salted macadamia and salted pistachio. Other firm favourites such as hazelnut and raisin, strawberry and raspberry have recently been added to the range, and we continue to look to introduce more new exciting flavours for our customers.
The Spring 2009 seasonal products included new designs for Valentine's Day, Mother's Day and Easter, which were on trend with their bright, folk design and included new creations with personalisation at the heart, delivering improved sales and fantastic customer feedback.
With the aim of driving sales during the traditionally quieter summer months, we have invested in our ice cream offering. Firstly we have extended the range of both our sticks and scoops, and secondly we have increased awareness of the ice cream brand. New ice cream sticks launched this year include White Delight and Mint Choc Truffle. A Tropical Twist exotic fruit sorbet swirled with natural frozen yoghurt was added to the scoop range.
We also invested in an ice cream marquee, featuring a nostalgic seaside theme. The marquee has been on tour to several music festivals and countrywide events and has been a resounding success both in terms of sales and brand awareness.
Looking ahead, this Autumn is an exciting time for Thorntons. Not only will our new Christmas range, which includes some exciting product innovations and eye-catching packaging, be launched in our stores, but we also have two new product collections launching in store and online.
The 'Continental City Boxes', which include the milk chocolate 'Paris Collection' and dark chocolate 'Milan Collection', are a little taste of contemporary Europe and are inspired by the flavours from the cities themselves. They are the latest addition to the famous 'Continental' range.
'Metropolitan' is another exciting proposition from Thorntons. This stylish gift box is beautifully designed and is made with the finest Dominican Republic and Ecuador single origin chocolate, paired with unusual flavours such as cloudberry and quince, which will delight our discerning foodie fans.
With many other stimulating innovations in the pipeline for 2010, it is an exciting time for Thorntons.
UK Retail
Overall UK Retail sales, including Own Store, Franchise and Thorntons Direct, declined by 0.5% to £157.9 million from £158.6 million in 2008.
Own Store performance declined by 0.4% during the year with the vast majority of the shortfall occurring in the Christmas quarter. During the course of the year we opened five new stores, resited one and closed six. Therefore, the retail estate ended the year with 379 stores, unchanged from last year.
With the benefit of hindsight the recessionary environment during the Autumn and Christmas 2008 selling season was not the ideal time to trial our new concept stores. More work is being done to further improve the concept before we proceed to roll it out.
The uncertainties in the property market are ongoing and we continue to pursue opportunities to reduce our costs at the time of lease renewals and rent reviews, as well as by renegotiating service charges. With 379 stores owned by more than 150 different landlords and the opportunity to review terms arising only once every five years for each store, this is a laborious process but one that should bear fruit in the long term.
Like for like sales declined by 2.0% for the year as a whole, again, mostly due to the poor trading in the Christmas quarter.
Franchise store sales grew by 2.2% during the year and I would like to thank all our Franchisees for their hard work and commitment to Thorntons during this particularly difficult year. Unfortunately sales were adversely affected at the end of the year by the collapse of the Birthday stores that were placed into administration in May and accounted for 94 of our 254 Franchise stores. Clinton Cards Plc have since bought back a number of Birthday stores from the administrators including 37 that have a Thorntons franchise. These have now resumed business as usual. Negotiations are progressing swiftly to appoint new Franchisees in the remaining locations and we would expect to have reopened most of them in time for Christmas.
Thorntons Direct delivered mixed results. Overall sales to consumers from the website and the call centre increased by 13.9% during the year but sales to corporate end users declined by 30.7%, resulting in an overall decline in sales of 5.2%. Historically, our growth in corporate sales was driven by our success in the financial services and automotive sectors, both of which were unfortunately hit hard by the economic downturn and all discretionary expenditure on gifts ceased. We have since redirected our sales efforts into other sectors and are beginning to see some recovery in corporate sales, particularly in the leisure and hospitality sectors.
Commercial Sales
Commercial sales continued to outperform the rest of the business and grew by 14.9% to £56.8m and now account for 26.5% of total company sales. We achieved good growth in all major multiples and now have more than 25% of the inlaid box chocolate market in the UK (A.C.Nielsen, June 2009 excluding sales in Thorntons Retail).
In November, Woolworths, one of our largest commercial customers, went out of business. As this had been anticipated well in advance, the resulting bad debt was minimal. I would like to express my particular thanks to the Commercial team for their quick response to the opportunities available to them at the time and for the growth achieved through the channel as a whole.
Operations
The Purchasing team have once again done an excellent job of mitigating the volatility of the cocoa bean market with prices reaching a 24-year high in February 2009. Fortunately, dairy prices remained low for most of the year, helping us avoid the need for any significant price increases.
An ongoing area of focus is the productivity of our manufacturing facility and a significant step was taken this year with the investment of more than £1.1 million in a second robotic packaging line. This is now fully operational and should improve productivity and gross margins in the coming year.
We took another step to reduce costs as well as to mitigate our impact on the environment by outsourcing distribution of our products to the South East of England, particularly within the M25, to a third party.
Overall, supply service levels to all our customers, including our own stores, improved further from 95% to 96%.
Export Sales
Export sales have been on the radar for some time and we believe now is the right moment to dedicate resources to exploring this opportunity. This is a long term objective and we will carefully evaluate the options and learn from past experience before embarking on a controlled expansion of export sales.
Outlook
As I write this report there are very early signs that the worst of the recession might be over and this, together with all the work we have put into product innovation, reducing costs and improving productivity give me confidence. We make excellent products and by continuing to live up to our values of imagination, togetherness and excellence, I strongly believe that the prospects for Thorntons are good.
Mike Davies
Chief Executive
8 September 2009
Finance Director's report
Profits and Tax
Operating profit in the second half improved significantly, which helped to limit the fall in the full year pre-exceptional operating profit of £7.9 million (2008: £9.7 million) to just 23.1%, compared to the decline of 35.2% seen at the interim stage. Thorntons historically generates an operating loss in the second half of the year but during 2009 this loss was reduced to £0.6 million (excluding exceptional items), down from £2.8m the previous year. This was helped by a relatively modest 6.1% growth in sales over the period.
Percentage margins declined slightly in the second half but less so than in the first half of the year which was adversely affected by the downturn in consumer spending in the months before Christmas. Decisive steps were taken at that time to contain operating expenses with the result that second half expenses (excluding exceptional items) were 0.5% below last year's level.
Profit before taxation ("PBT") decreased by 4.5% to £8.1 million (2008: £8.5 million) and PBT pre-exceptionals decreased 25.8% to £6.3 million. The exceptional items which give rise to the £1.8 million
net credit in the full year income statement consist of a one-off curtailment gain relating to the Group's defined benefit pension scheme of £2.3 million (which is described in more detail below) and an unusually large write-off of a £0.5 million bad debt arising from the insolvency of Birthdays, our largest Franchise partner.
The £4.5 million tax charge for the year represents 55.4% of PBT compared with last year's tax charge of 28.4%. The main reason for the increase in the tax charge is that the Finance Act 2008 included legislation which had the effect of phasing out, over four years, the benefit of industrial buildings allowances ("IBAs") which are deductible for tax purposes. This change generated a one-off deferred tax charge in 2009 of approximately £2.0 million or 25.1% of PBT. A provision of £2.9 million was made in the interim accounts for the deferred tax consequences of the abolition of IBAs. Since then, however, we have taken steps to reclassify certain industrial building assets as plant and machinery for which capital allowances are available, thus reducing the interim deferred tax charge by
£0.9 million. Once the IBA tax allowances are fully phased out the Group's annual tax cash cost will increase by some £150,000.
Prior year tax credits amounted to 0.7% of PBT, which left an underlying current year tax charge of 31.0%. This, as in previous years, is higher than the effective statutory rate of 28.0%, mainly because of a historic element of capital investment for which no tax allowances are available.
Shareholder Returns and Dividends
Basic earnings per share have decreased by 40.7% from 9.1p to 5.4p. If the exceptional items are excluded, the underlying decrease in earnings per share is 28.6%.
Dividends paid in the year amounted to 6.05p per share. As a result of the uncertain economic outlook, the Board felt it prudent to pay a reduced interim dividend of 1.2p (2008: 1.95p) during the financial year. It is the intention of the Board to recommend at the Annual General Meeting that a final dividend of 4.85p be paid to shareholders in November 2009, thus making a total dividend in respect of the year's earnings of 6.05p (2008:6.80p).
Cash and Debt
Cash generated from operations before taxation improved from £14.0 million in 2008 to £19.0 million this year. Operating cash flow before working capital movements was virtually unchanged from 2008 but management action to control inventory levels and receivables collection and to improve payment terms from suppliers reduced working capital outflows to £2.8 million, down from £7.9 million the previous year.
Cash investment in fixed assets totalled £10.0 million (2008: £7.5 million), of which £3.0 million was funded through finance leasing. The net balance sheet addition to fixed assets of £10.2 million was slightly more than the cash figure and included £3.0 million of expenditure on new EPOS systems described below, £1.1m on a second robotic packing line, which will help to reduce product costs, and £1.7 million on new stores and store improvements. The balance was invested in new product tooling and other supply chain and IT improvements.
Shortly after the end of the financial year the Group negotiated new committed banking facilities with HSBC, Lloyds TSB Bank and Santander/Alliance & Leicester totalling £52.5 million for a three year period. The costs of these facilities are higher than those of existing facilities but are in line with market rates and provide certainty of funding for the medium term. Covenants are set at levels which are broadly similar to those in the previous agreements.
Business Performance
The Board continues to apply the following key performance indicators in order to measure progress towards achieving shareholder value:
* Net sales growth - the year on year increase in sales revenue excluding any impact from acquisitions or disposals.
* Like for like sales growth - the change in the sales of those of our own shops which are open for trading for corresponding periods comparing the current year with the previous year.
* Gross return on sales - gross margin as a percentage of net sales revenue.
* Profit before tax - current year profit before tax compared with the previous year.
* Operating cash flow - cash generated from operations before working capital movements, taxation, asset investment and financing activities.
Performance against these was as follows:
2009 2008 2007
Net sales growth 3.2% 11.9% 5.3%
Like-for-like sales growth (2.0)% 2.9% 0.8%
Gross return on sales 48.9% 50.5% 53.7%
Profit before tax £8.1m £8.5m £7.1m
Operating cash flow £21.8m £21.9m £19.8m
A review of each of the above is included under the appropriate heading elsewhere in this report.
Sales
The Group's sales are made through a number of channels whose performance is summarised below:
2009 2008 % increase/
£m £m (decrease)
Own Stores 134.5 135.1 (0.4)%
Franchise 15.3 14.9 2.2%
Commercial 56.8 49.5 14.9%
Thorntons Direct 8.2 8.6 (5.2)%
Total 214.8 208.1 3.2%
A detailed review of the sales performance by channel is included in the Chief Executive's report.
Margins
There was a decrease in gross margin of £0.1 million which was caused by a decline in percentage margins from 50.5% in 2008 to 48.9% this year, more than offsetting the £6.7 million growth in sales over the same period. The main factor in the decline in margin was the need, in a recessionary trading environment, to attract customers to our own stores by offering higher levels of promotional discounts than in the previous year and to ensure that stock was cleared before Christmas. The change in the proportion of sales through the various channels, which is largely mitigated by the lower costs of serving the faster growing channels, also had an adverse effect on gross profit. We succeeded in increasing our prices during the year in order to offset increases in raw material and manufacturing costs.
Costs
Operating expense growth, excluding exceptional items, was 2.6%, a figure lower than the rate of sales growth, and this combination lead to a drop in operating expenses as a percentage of sales from 46.1% in 2008 to 45.8% this year. This was the result of a number of cost management initiatives that were put in place when it became apparent in the early part of the year that there would be a downturn in consumer spending caused by the banking crisis. These initiatives included freezing external recruitment, inviting staff to take unpaid leave, reducing discretionary spend wherever possible and tightly managing shop costs.
Profits on asset (mainly property) disposals declined from £143,000 last year to £16,000 in the current year.
Other Operating Income
There was a 23.8% improvement in other operating income during the year from £1.1 million to £1.4 million, which was mainly the result of increased sales into major multiples by existing licensees of Thorntons branded products, mainly cakes and ice cream.
Pensions
The IAS19 pension scheme deficit increased from £16.0 million in 2008 to £21.3 million at the end of 2009. During the year the Group implemented a "career average" change to the terms of the defined benefit pension scheme which reduced liabilities for future pensions by £2.3 million and generated a corresponding income statement curtailment gain. However, a number of other factors contributed to the net increase in the deficit of £5.3 million. The general decline in the value of equity markets accounted for a £4.5 million reduction in the market value of the scheme's assets. The liabilities of the scheme, excluding the effect of the one-off curtailment gain, have increased by £4.4 million which includes the effect of improving life expectancy.
The Company continues to inject funds into the scheme in order to reduce the scheme deficit over time and made deficit reduction payments totalling £1.7 million during the year.
Information Systems
The major achievement of the year was the successful replacement of all our outdated store tills, credit card terminals and central supporting software with state of the art equipment and software which has provided us with a competitive advantage in many aspects of our retail operations. The improvements include a significant reduction in transaction times, helping to shorten customer queues at peak periods. The roll-out of this project was achieved in a challengingly short time period and enabled us to go live before Christmas 2008.
By the end of the financial year we had upgraded all our credit card systems both for our retail business and for Thorntons Direct such that they are fully compliant with the credit card industry's PCI-DSS standard which sets the security standards for handling credit card transactions.
We also successfully upgraded our Oracle systems which are the core of our financial, manufacturing and purchasing systems. This was achieved with minimum disruption to the business.
John Wall
Finance Director
8 September 2009
Consolidated income statement
52 weeks ended 27 June 2009
52 weeks ended 27 June 2009 52 weeks ended 28 June 2008
Before Exceptionals Total Before Exceptionals Total
exceptionals (note 2) exceptionals
£'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000 £'000
Revenue 214,805 - 214,805 208,122 - 208,122
Cost of sales (109,836) - (109,836) (103,017) - (103,017)
Gross profit 104,969 - 104,969 105,105 - 105,105
Operating expenses (98,439) 1,800 (96,639) (95,918) - (95,918)
Other operating income 1,410 - 1,410 1,139 - 1,139
Operating profit 7,940 1,800 9,740 10,326 - 10,326
Finance income 38 - 38 45 - 45
Finance costs (1,690) - (1,690) (1,901) - (1,901)
Profit before taxation 6,288 1,800 8,088 8,470 - 8,470
Taxation (1,946) (2,537) (4,483) (2,402) - (2,402)
Profit attributable to equity 4,342 (737) 3,605 6,068 - 6,068
shareholders
Earnings per share
Basic 6.5p (1.1)p 5.4p 9.1p - 9.1p
Diluted 6.5p (1.1)p 5.4p 9.0p - 9.0p
All activities in both the current and previous year relate to continuing operations.
Dividend per share
Note 2009 2008
Proposed final dividend 4.85p 4.85p
Impact on shareholders' funds (£'000) 3 3,247 3,237
Total dividend in respect of the year 6.05p 6.80p
Impact on shareholders' funds (£'000) 3 4,050 4,562
Paid in the year 6.05p 6.80p
Impact on shareholders' funds (£'000) 3 4,040 4,550
Consolidated statement of recognised income and expense
52 weeks ended 27 June 2009
52 weeks 52 weeks
ended ended
27 June 28 June
2009 2008
£'000 £'000
Actuarial loss recognised in the defined benefit (8,629) (2,148)
pension scheme
Movement of deferred tax on actuarial loss 2,416 601
Net expense recognised directly in equity (6,213) (1,547)
Profit attributable to equity shareholders 3,605 6,068
Total recognised (expense)/income attributable to (2,608) 4,521
equity shareholders for the financial period
Consolidated balance sheet at 27 June 2009
2008 2007
Note £*000 £*000
Assets
Non-current assets
Intangible assets 4,850 4,786
Property, plant and equipment 62,759 64,084
67,609 68,870
Current assets
Inventories 25,370 24,307
Trade and other receivables 14,056 15,155
Cash and cash equivalents 588 1,088
40,014 40,550
Liabilities
Current liabilities
Trade and other payables (22,628) (22,014)
Borrowings (22,625) (24,057)
Current tax liabilities (1,043) (984)
Provisions for liabilities (254) (122)
(46,550) (47,177)
Net current liabilities (6,536) (6,627)
Non-current liabilities
Borrowings (4,637) (5,295)
Deferred tax liabilities (2,917) (2,750)
Retirement benefit obligations (21,313) (15,965)
Other non-current liabilities (2,816) (2,612)
Provisions for liabilities (652) (586)
(32,335) (27,208)
Net assets 28,738 35,035
Shareholders* equity
Ordinary shares 4 6,835 6,835
Share premium 4 13,752 13,750
Retained earnings 4 8,151 14,450
Total equity attributable to parent*s equity 28,738 35,035
holders
Consolidated cash flow statement
52 weeks ended 27 June 2009
52 weeks 52 weeks
ended ended
27 June 28 June
2009 2008
£'000 £'000
Cash flows from operating activities 17,138 11,481
Cash flows from investing activities
Proceeds from sale of property, plant and equipment 51 262
Purchase of property, plant and equipment (7,112) (5,680)
Net cash used in investing activities (7,061) (5,418)
Cash flows from financing activities
Net proceeds from issue of ordinary shares 2 223
Interest paid (1,469) (1,831)
Interest received 27 37
Capital element of finance lease rental payments (3,297) (3,712)
Borrowings (advanced)/repaid (1,800) 2,000
Dividends paid 3 (4,040) (4,550)
Net cash used in financing activities (10,577) (7,833)
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents and bank (500) (1,770)
overdrafts
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period 1,088 2,858
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period 588 1,088
Notes to the preliminary announcement
1 Basis of preparation
This preliminary announcement does not constitute statutory accounts within the meaning of section 434 of the Companies Act 2006. The financial information for the years ended 27 June 2009 and 28 June 2008 has been extracted from the consolidated financial statements on which the auditors have given unqualified opinions and which do not contain statements under Sections 498(2) or 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006. This announcement has been agreed with the Company's auditors for release.
The financial information included in this preliminary announcement does not include all the disclosures required by International Financial Reporting Standard ("IFRS") or the Companies Act 2006 and accordingly it does not itself comply with IFRS or the Companies Act 2006.
The Group's financial statements for the year ended 28 June 2008 have been delivered to the Registrar of Companies and 27 June 2009 will be delivered to the Registrar of Companies following the Company's Annual General Meeting.
The Group prepares its annual consolidated financial statements in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and International Financial Reporting Interpretations Committee ("IFRIC") interpretations as adopted by the European Union ("EU") and with those parts of the Companies Act 2006 applicable to companies reporting under IFRS. There are no material differences between the accounting policies adopted for use in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements for the year ended 27 June 2009, the financial information included in this preliminary announcement and the accounting policies disclosed in the 2008 Annual Report and Financial Statements, copies of which are available on Thorntons PLC website, www.thorntons.co.uk
These consolidated financial statements have been prepared under the historical cost convention with the exception of derivative financial instruments and share based payments which are recognised at fair value.
This preliminary announcement will be published on the Company's website, in addition to the paper version. The maintenance and integrity of the website is the responsibility of the directors. The work carried out by the auditors does not involve consideration of these matters. Legislation in the United Kingdom governing the preparation and dissemination of financial statements may differ from legislation in other jurisdictions.
2 Exceptional items
Exceptional items comprise:
2009£*000
Pension curtailment gain 2,300
Franchisee bad debt (500)
1,800
Tax charge attributable to exceptional items 504
Net tax impact of withdrawal of industrial buildings allowances 2,033
2,537
Pension curtailment gain
During the year the Group implemented a change to the defined benefit pension scheme from a final salary to a Career Average Revalued Earnings ("CARE") basis. Under the CARE Scheme, pension benefits are built up each year linked to the members' pensionable salaries in that year. This reduction in pension benefits has resulted in a curtailment gain, which in line with IAS 19, has been valued at £2,300,000.
Franchisee bad debt
This charge relates to the creation of a provision against an unusually large bad debt following the insolvency of a major franchisee.
Tax charge attributable to exceptional items
This is the tax charge arising in relation to the exceptional profit and loss items calculated at the standard rate of 28%.
2 Exceptional items (continued)
Net tax impact of withdrawal of industrial buildings allowances
This relates to a one off charge of £3,053,000 arising from the withdrawal of industrial buildings allowances. This is offset by a £1,020,000 tax credit arising from a revision of capital allowance claims made in respect of plant and machinery.
3 Ordinary dividends
2009 2008
£*000 £*000
Final dividend paid for the 52 weeks ended 28 June 2008 of
4.85p
(53 weeks ended 30 June 2007: 4.85p) 3,237 3,235
Interim dividend paid in respect of the 52 weeks ended 27 June
2009
of 1.20p (52 weeks ended 28 June 2008: 1.95p) 803 1,315
Amounts recognised as distributions to equity holders 4,040 4,550
In addition, the Directors are proposing a final dividend in respect of the year ended 27 June 2009 of 4.85p per share which will absorb an estimated £3,200,000 of shareholders* funds. It will be paid on 27 November 2009 to shareholders who are on the register of members on 30 October 2009.
The trusts operating the Long-Term Incentive Plan Scheme ("LTIP 2007") have fully waived dividends on the 504,610 shares (2008: 504,610) held at 27 June 2009 and all but 0.01p per share on the 905,070 (2008: 905,070) shares held in respect of the 2001 Executive Share Option Scheme.
4 Statement of changes in shareholders' equity
Share Share Retained Total
capital premium earnings £'000
£'000 £'000 £'000
At 30 June 2007 6,811 13,551 14,524 34,886
Total recognised income and - - 4,521 4,521
expense
New share capital issued 24 199 - 223
Share-based payment charge - - 447 447
Effect of tax on share option - - (510) (510)
movement
Movement in investment in own - - 18 18
shares
Dividends - - (4,550) (4,550)
At 28 June 2008 6,835 13,750 14,450 35,035
Total recognised income and - - (2,608) (2,608)
expense
New share capital issued - 2 - 2
Share-based payment charge - - 520 520
Effect of tax on share option - - (171) (171)
movement
Dividends - - (4,040) (4,040)
At 27 June 2009 6,835 13,752 8,151 28,738
5 Reconciliation of movement in net debt
2009 2008
£*000 £*000
Decrease in cash and cash equivalents (500) (1,770)
Cash flows from decrease in debt 5,097 1,712
Change in net debt resulting from cash flow 4,597 (58)
Inception of new finance leases (3,007) (1,795)
Movement in net debt in the period 1,590 (1,853)
Net debt at beginning of period (28,264) (26,411)
Net debt at end of period (26,674) (28,264)
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
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