LONDON (ShareCast) - The Chairman of chocolatier Thorntons has boosted his stake in the company with the addition of 125,000 shares in a purchase made the same day the group revealed the restoration of its profits.

Paul Wilkinson, who has held his current position since February of this year, bought the shares for 89p each, spending a total of £111,250 and building his stake to 1.3m shares, equal to 2% of the issued share capital.

Also stocking up were Jonathan Hart, the group's Chief Executive, and Martin George, a non-Executive Director, who bought 52,155 shares at 90p each, and 20,000 at 87.50p, respectively.

In Wednesday's results, the group reported a pre-tax profit of £5.2m for the year ended June 29th, compared to a pre-tax loss of £2.2m the prior year. Revenues increased 1.8% to £221.1m for the period.

The group said although consumer expenditure remained under pressure, it was confident further progress can be made as it extends its three-year turnaround plan.

UK Commercial sales grew by 11.2% to £88.7m, International sales increased from to £6.1m from £3.9m, while Private label sales increased from £1.3m to £6.3m.

Own Store like-for-like sales fell 0.8% compared to a 3.8% decline the year before. Overall sales in Own Stores declined by 8.0% to £102.5m as a result of the 35 store closures during the year.

Franchise sales dropped to £8.5m, primarily as a result of the administration of a major franchisee partner in May 2012. Thorntons Direct sales fell by 10.0% to £9.0m.


Top Director Buys

Mwana Africa (MWA)
Director name: Mr Yat Hoi Ning
Amount purchased: 84,983,264 @ 1.57p
Value: £1,334,237

Thorntons (THT)
Director name: Mr Paul Wilkinson
Amount purchased: 125,000 @ 89.00p
Value: £111,250

1pm (OPM)
Director name: Mr Ronald Russell
Amount purchased: 120,000 @ 41.00p
Value: £49,200

Thorntons (THT)
Director name: Mr Jonathan Hart
Amount purchased: 52,155 @ 90.00p
Value: £46,940

Thorntons (THT)
Director name: Mr Martin George
Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 87.50p
Value: £17,500

Oxford Biomedica (OXB)
Director name: Mr Tim Watts
Amount purchased: 400,000 @ 2.50p
Value: £10,000


Top Director Sells

Afren (AFR)
Director name: Mr Peter Bingham
Amount sold: 400,000 @ 144.00p
Value: £576,000

NR

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