DERBYSHIRE chocolate-maker Thorntons has reported a decline in sales over the Christmas period but said it was satisfied with performance.

In a trading statement released to the London Stock Exchange yesterday, the Somercotes company said that in the 14 weeks to January 9, sales declined by 2.4% to £80.7m, compared to the same period 12 months ago.

But Thorntons said that it was difficult to draw comparisons with the previous year's festive trading period because of the collapse last year of Birthdays, which operated 94 of its franchises.

As a result, the firm's franchise sales went down by 18.1% to £5.3m.

Thorntons has 577 outlets, including 199 franchise stores. Sales at its own stores fell by 4.5% to £51.7m.

The firm also lost sales after Woolworths went under, but still managed to improve by 6.5% to £19m.

Online sales, through its website Thorntons Direct, also went up by 10.9% to £4.7m over Christmas.

Overall, Thorntons described its festive trading performance as "satisfactory".

Chief executive Mike Davies said: "We saw a pleasing continuation in commercial sales and Thorntons Direct during this important trading period.

"The decline in own store sales was disappointing although this was primarily driven by our own decision to protect profit margins through significantly reduced discounting, but we were able to sell all the Christmas stock by the end of the period."

Thorntons, which employs about 4,000 people, is expected to publish its half-year results on February 17.