Thorntons gave investors a rare cause for cheer this week by reporting its first increase in like-for-like retail sales for 10 quarters.

The closure of 36 stores over the past year helped Thorntons achieve a modest 0.7% like-for-like improvement in the quarter to 30 June. Sales through supermarkets continued to grow strongly and the confectioner ended the quarter with overall sales up 7.8% on last year at £24.7m.

Investec said it was a “positive note” to end the year. However, it is a traditionally small quarter for the struggling confectioner, accounting for just 12% of annual sales, so investors were reluctant to buy. On Wednesday - the day of the announcement - the share price remained largely unchanged at 25p. Investors are waiting to see how the sales figures play out on the bottom line - a profit warning in December had caused shares to slump from almost 40p to 10p.

A similarly disastrous profit warning hit Britvic shares this week. The soft drinks company said it expected its Fruit Shoot recall to cost up to £25m - five times more than it estimated last week. The bad news, which was accompanied by a downbeat assessment of the impact of the bad weather on trading, sent shares plummeting 15% to 260p, wiping £97m off the value of the stock.

On a more upbeat note, on Thursday Associated British Foods reported an 11% improvement in sales for the nine months to 23 June, driven by strong performances in sugar and agriculture. Although brokers at Jefferies said the result was better than expected, the ABF share price, which had outperformed the FTSE 100 by 23% over the past year, was largely unchanged by lunchtime at 1,263p.

ABF’s performance in grocery is a concern for investors. ABF said grocery sales were level with last year following strong sales of Twinings Ovaltine but a weaker performance at Allied Bakeries, which owns the Kingsmill brand.

It said sales of its new stevia-based table-top sweetener Truvia were progressing well, which will be good news for stevia manufacturer Pure Circle, which reported a 20% year-on-year improvement in sales this week for the half year to June. The news added over 5% to its share price this week, which has risen from 92p at the start of the year to 155p.

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