British chocolate maker Thorntons today reported an 11.9% drop in first-quarter sales, hurt by subdued consumer sentiment and reduced footfalls since Easter.
UK commercial sales, which account for about 40% of overall sales, declined 16.4%, the company said.
The company, which has been shutting down high street stores to focus on its online business, closed 12 during the year, bringing down the number of own stores to 249.
Thorntons, which sells its products in its own stores as well as to supermarkets, said like-for-like sales in the retail division fell 3.7%.
