Mothercare Regulatory News (MTC)

20 Jul 2006 07:01

Mothercare PLC20 July 2006 20th July 2006 Mothercare plc Annual General Meeting Statement At the Mothercare Annual General Meeting to be held at 10:30 this morning IanPeacock, Chairman, will give the following update on trading. Group Performance Group sales for the 15 weeks ended 14th July 2006 were up 6.5%. Our UK businesshas continued to show steady growth and our International and Direct businesseshave both performed well. All figures in this statement are comparable with thesame 15 weeks in the prior year. UK performance Total UK sales for the 15 weeks ended 14th July 2006 were up 3.0%. UK store likefor like sales were up 2.3% over this period. After adjusting for the timing ofEaster, UK store like for like sales were up by an estimated 1.5%. Direct inHome sales were up 14.8% in the period. +----------------------------+--------------+| | 15 Weeks to|| | || | 14 July 2006|+----------------------------+--------------+|Total UK sales % | +3.0%|+----------------------------+--------------+|UK store sales % | +2.5%|+----------------------------+--------------+|UK store sales like for like| +2.3%||% | |+----------------------------+--------------+ Our summer sale is proceeding in line with plan and gross margins are in linewith expectations. International International sales have increased by 28.9% over the 15 weeks, reflecting thetiming of despatches of product to our franchisees in the first quarter. We haveopened 24 stores during this period, taking the total to 290. Enquiries to: Mothercare plc Ben Gordon, Chief Executive 01923 241000 Neil Harrington, Finance Director 01923 241000 Brunswick Group LLP Susan Gilchrist/Catherine Hicks 020 7404 5959 Mothercare expects to make a pre-close statement for the 28 weeks to 14thOctober 2006 on 19th October 2006 ahead of the interim results announcement on16th November 2006. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange