Summer heat softens sales for Thorntons

Specialist chocolatier Thorntons blamed the hottest June for 26 years for a sales meltdown in recent weeks.

The retailer, which posted a sales and trading update last week, said total sales for the year to June 28 rose by 2 per cent to£167.1 million.

Good performance until just before Easter fell away subsequently. Like-for-like sales turned negative, resulting in an overall second-half decline of 0.3 per cent.

Chief executive Peter Burdon said results, due in September, will now show a profit before tax of about£6.4 million.

Analysts immediately downgraded forecasts.