Chocolatier Thorntons expects pre-exceptional pre-tax profits to be ahead of expectations after a “satisfactory” Easter trading period.

Thorntons said: “When combined with similarly satisfactory results from both Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day, the board now anticipates that the pre-exceptional profit before tax for the 52 weeks to June 29, 2013 will be ahead of the current market expectation of £3.1m.

“However, we remain cautious of the prevailing economy and its continuing impact on consumer expenditure.”

The retailer introduced a number of new products including Easter egg hunt packs and Black Forest gateau eggs. It continued to introduce more personalisation in its products including its alphabet truffles.

Chief executive Jonathan Hart is enacting a turnaround of the chocolatier to rebalance the business towards its commercial channel - supplying other retailers - and away from company-owned stores.

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