Mothercare Regulatory News (MTC)

15 Jul 2005 07:00

Mothercare PLC15 July 2005 15th July 2005 Mothercare plc Annual General Meeting Statement At the Mothercare Annual General Meeting to be held at 10:30 this morning,Ian Peacock, Chairman, will give the following update on trading: Company Performance Company sales for the 15 weeks ended 8th July 2005 were up 3.3%. Our UK businesshas traded resiliently in the difficult UK trading environment. OurInternational business has continued to grow strongly and has helped to offsetthe tougher trading conditions in the UK. UK performance Total UK sales for the 15 weeks ended 8th July 2005 were up 0.1%. UK store likefor like sales were down 1.8% over this period. Taking account of growth in ourDirect business, UK like for like sales were down 1.4%. Last year in the 15weeks to 9th July 2004, UK like for like sales were up 4.8%. We estimate thatthe timing of Easter compared to last year has impacted the comparison adverselyto last year by some -0.8%. We have opened five new UK stores in this period,taking the total to 235. Our UK gross margin continues to show satisfactory growth, with five weeksremaining of our summer Sale. International International sales have increased by 30.7%. This figure has benefited from theearlier timing of the despatch of product to our franchisees this year as aresult of our more efficient distribution network. The underlying growth isdriven by good franchisee like for like sales, combined with our continuingInternational store opening programme. We have opened 16 International storesduring this period, taking the total to 236 - overtaking the number of UK storesfor the first time. Update on new National Distribution Centre (NDC) Phase 1 of our move to our new NDC was successfully completed in May - on timeand on budget. 20% of our sales value and 50% of our product cubic volume arenow being distributed through this new facility. All key performance indicatorsare being achieved. The next phase of our relocation plan takes place in theautumn of 2005, with the final phases of the move due to be completed in mid2006. IFRS Mothercare will today issue an update on the impact of the adoption ofInternational Financial Reporting Standards. The update includes a restatedprofit and loss account for the year ended 26th March 2005 and a restatedbalance sheet as at 26th March 2005. Enquiries to: Mothercare plcBen Gordon, Chief Executive 01923 206001Steven Glew, Finance Director 01923 206187 Brunswick Group LLPSusan Gilchrist/Catherine Hicks/Anna Jones 020 7404 5959 Mothercare expects to make a pre-close statement in early October ahead of itsinterim results announcement for the 28 weeks to 8th October 2005. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange