REG-Mothercare Plc : Trading Statement <Origin Href="QuoteRef">MTC.L</Origin>

MothercareAnnouncement

22/10/2015 07:00

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MOTHERCARE PLC

Q2 trading update

 

Mothercare plc, the leading global retailer for parents and young children, today issues the
following trading update, which covers the 13 week period to 10 October 2015.

Trading remains in line with our full year expectations. The UK is continuing to benefit from our
digital and full price trading strategy while International has returned to underlying growth,
although continues to face significant foreign currency headwinds.

International highlights

*International space up 6.6% year-on-year despite the c2% reduction during Q4 last year. During
the quarter our International business saw the opening of 11 stores and ended the period with
1,310 stores and 3.0m sq.ft of retail space
*International retail sales in constant currency up 5.6% benefitting, as previously reported, from
the delayed end-of-season sale into Q2 due to the timing of Ramadan and Eid. Currency headwinds
continued to have an impact and retail sales in actual currencies were down (5.3)%
*Europe, the Middle East and Latin America saw growth in constant currencies with Asia weaker than
last year

UK highlights

*UK grew like-for-like sales by 6.5% as a result of our digital strategy growing online sales by
20.4% and delaying our end-of-season sale into Q2
*We continued to sell a high proportion of  our product at full price, leading to further growth
in gross margins
*Reconfiguring of the UK store portfolio continued with ten closures, three openings and six
refurbishments completed in the quarter. Our refurbishment programme will see c20% of stores
modernised before Christmas. UK now trading from 173 stores and 1.6m sq.ft. of retail space

Group highlights

*Worldwide sales down (2.8)% and Total group sales down (7.1)% reflecting ongoing store closures
in the UK and foreign currency headwinds for our International business

Group performance for 13 weeks to 10 October 2015 
 
                                                                                        13 weeks:    28 weeks: 
                                                               FY2015        FY2016       10 October 2015      
                                                          Q2     Q3     Q4     Q1      % change year-on-year   
 International                                                                            Q2           H1      
 International retail sales in constant currencies (1)   8.6    14.4   11.4   (1.3)      5.6          1.8      
 International retail sales in actual currencies (1)    (2.2)   5.4    5.5    (4.8)     (5.3)        (5.0)     
 International space (change in sq.ft.)                  12.9   11.5   9.0     7.9       6.6          6.6      
 UK                                                                                                            
 Total UK sales                                         (1.2)  (1.9)   1.5    (0.9)      1.8          0.4      
 Online sales                                            23.7   16.1   31.8   23.9       20.4         22.1     
 UK like-for-like sales (1)                              2.1    1.1    5.1     1.3       6.5          3.8      
 UK space (change in sq.ft.)                            (3.8)  (4.2)  (4.5)   (5.3)     (7.4)        (7.4)     
 Group                                                                                                         
 Worldwide sales (2)                                    (1.7)   2.2    4.1    (3.5)     (2.8)        (3.1)     
 Total group sales (3)                                  (0.1)  (2.9)  (1.0)   (5.2)     (7.1)        (6.1)     
 
 
Mark Newton-Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Mothercare plc, said:

"The second quarter results are in line with our full year expectations. The UK is continuing to
benefit from our strategic initiatives both online and in store, while International has seen the
expected improvement in trading." 

"Whilst International markets remain volatile, our franchise partners continue to have confidence
and have added further space during the period. However, foreign currency continues to be a
significant headwind."

"In the UK our digital strategy resulted in strong double-digit growth of online sales, which in
turn contributed to the growth in like-for-like sales. Our improved and exclusive product ranges
in Home & travel and Clothing & footwear are supporting our full price trading approach. As a
result we were able to go into our end-of-season-sale with less product at discount and so delay
the start of the sale until the second quarter. With Christmas now quickly approaching we are
gearing up to our peak trading period."

"These results give us further confidence in our strategy, but there is much more to be done. Our
vision remains clear - to be the leading global retailer for parents and young children."

 

Investor and Analyst enquiries to:

Mothercare plc

Mark Newton-Jones, Chief Executive Officer

Richard Smothers, Chief Financial Officer

Ramona Tipnis, Director of Investor Relations                                    01923 206455

 

Media enquiries to:

Lorna Else, Interim Director of Communications, Mothercare

John Olsen/Simon Hockridge, MHP Communications                            020 3128 8789

 

Notes:

1 - UK like-for-like sales are defined as sales from stores that have been trading continuously
from the same selling space for at least a year and include online sales. International retail
sales are the estimated retail sales of overseas franchisees and joint ventures and associates to
their customers. International like-for-like sales are the estimated franchisee retail sales from
stores that have been trading continuously from the same selling space for at least a year.

2 - Worldwide sales are total International sales plus total UK sales. Total International sales
are International retail sales plus International Wholesale sales.

3 - Total group sales is a statutory number and is made up of total UK sales and receipts from our
International partners, which includes royalty payments and the cost of goods dispatched to our
franchise partners.

4 - This announcement contains certain forward-looking statements concerning the company. Although
the Board believes its expectations are based on reasonable assumptions, the matters to which such
statements refer may be influenced by factors that could cause actual outcomes and results to be
materially different. The forward-looking statements speak only as at the date of this document
and the company does not undertake any obligation to announce any revisions to such statements,
except as required by law or by any appropriate regulatory authority.

5 - Overall space was up 1.3% year-on-year at the end of the second quarter with space in the UK
down 7.4% year-on-year and International space up 6.6% year-on-year.

6 - We will be announcing our half year results on Thursday 19 November 2015.



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Source: Mothercare Plc via Globenewswire


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