Mothercare PLC Mothercare Plc : Q1 Trading Update

 
TIDMMTC 
 
 
   MOTHERCARE PLC 
 
   Q1 trading update 
 
 
 
   Mothercare plc, the leading global retailer for parents and young 
children, today issues the following trading update, which covers the 15 
week period to 9 July 2016. 
 
 
 
   UK 
 
 
   -- UK like-for-like sales up 1.2% with the end-of-season sale brought 
      forward by one week to clear stock following adverse weather in the 
      quarter 
 
   -- UK online sales up 6.4% with online now 35.5% of total UK sales (LY: 
      32.7%). Mobile now 84% of online traffic and 61% of online sales 
 
   -- Total UK sales down (2.1%), reflecting the (4.8%) year-on-year reduction 
      in space 
 
   -- Retail space at the end of the quarter was 1.6m sq.ft. with 170 stores 
      (162 Mothercare and eight ELC) 
 
 
   International 
 
 
   -- Constant currency sales were up 3.9% during the quarter with 
      approximately half of the growth coming from the Middle East due to the 
      earlier timing of Ramadan 
 
   -- Actual currency sales were up 5.1% with the Middle East and Asia 
      reporting fx gains during the quarter. Although the impact on profit will 
      be limited due to hedging of royalty receipts 
 
   -- Space was up 2.3% year-on-year with 3.0m sq.ft. of retail space and 1,322 
      stores (958 Mothercare and 364 ELC) at the end of Q1 
 
 
 
 
   Group performance for 15 weeks to 9 July 2016 
 
 
 
 
                                                                                   15 weeks: 
                                                              FY2016              9 July 2016 
                                                                                    % change 
                                                     Q1     Q2     Q3      Q4     year-on-year 
UK                                                                                    Q1 
Total UK sales                                      (0.9)    1.8  (0.1)     0.8         (2.1) 
Online sales                                         23.9   20.4   11.8     5.6           6.4 
UK like-for-like sales (1)                            1.3    6.5    4.2     2.1           1.2 
UK space (change in sq.ft.)                         (5.3)  (7.4)  (6.1)   (6.4)         (4.8) 
International 
International retail sales in constant currencies 
 (1)                                                (1.3)    5.6  (1.3)   (9.7)           3.9 
International retail sales in actual currencies 
 (1)                                                (4.8)  (5.3)  (9.5)  (10.8)           5.1 
International space (change in sq.ft.)                7.9    6.6    5.8     4.6           2.3 
Group 
Worldwide sales (2)                                 (3.5)  (2.8)  (5.5)   (6.7)           2.7 
Total group sales (3)                               (5.2)  (7.1)  (5.4)     1.4         (1.7) 
 
 
 
 
   Mark Newton-Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Mothercare plc, said: 
 
   "Our focus remains firmly on the turnaround of our business and putting 
strong foundations down for the future and we have made further progress 
during this quarter." 
 
   "In the UK sales were impacted by unseasonable weather, this resulted in 
bringing our end-of-season sale forward by one week to ensure a cleaner 
stock position while also making way for the new season's ranges. We 
continued with our refurbishment of stores in the quarter and continued 
to improve our customers' shopping experience both instore and online." 
 
   "International sales were materially helped by the timing of Ramadan, 
which was entirely in Q1 this year. We remain cautious and expect to see 
continued volatility during the first half of the year in our 
International business." 
 
   "We have not seen any immediate consumer reaction to the Brexit vote, 
but it is too early to call as we went into the end-of-season sale 
early. We hedge both dollar purchases and royalty receipts and we expect 
limited impact on our financial results this year." 
 
   "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: 
 
   Helen Gunter, Director of Communications, Mothercare 
 
   John Olsen/Simon Hockridge, MHP Communications 
020 3128 8100 
 
 
 
   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 down (0.2%) year-on-year at the end of the first 
quarter with space in the UK down (4.8%) year-on-year and International 
space up 2.3% year-on-year. 
 
   6 - We will be announcing our Half Year Results on Thursday 24 November 
2016. 
 
   This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on 
behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients. 
 
   The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely 
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information 
contained therein. 
 
   Source: Mothercare Plc via Globenewswire 
 
   HUG#2028480 
 
 
  http://www.mothercare.com 
 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 14, 2016 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)

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