Last checked at 19 Jul 2012 07:00
MOTHERCARE PLC
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT
At the Mothercare Annual General Meeting to be held at 10.00am today, the Chairman will give the following update on trading for the 15 weeks ended 14 July 2012 (first quarter).
Group performance, first quarter
·; Worldwide network sales(1) up 1.1%
·; Total Group sales down 4.4%
·; International retail sales(1) up 11.0%
·; Total UK sales down 10.2%
·; UK Direct in Home sales down 7.1%
·; UK like-for-like sales(1) down 6.7%
Alan Parker, Chairman said:
"First quarter results were in line with our overall plans despite challenging trading conditions in the UK and the Eurozone. We have made good progress implementing the three-year Transformation and Growth plan with benefits to accrue during the second half of the year, as expected. International growth continues to offset weaker trading in the UK.
"Asia Pacific and the Middle East & Africa performed particularly well, tracking strong historic levels of growth. In contrast, Europe had a weaker quarter with a slight decline in sales. In line with our plans, we opened a net 25 stores outside the UK, taking the total overseas store numbers to 1,053, opening our 100th store in Saudi Arabia. Forward orders and store opening plans from our franchise partners give us confidence that we will deliver on our stated International growth targets.
"The UK store restructure programme, which is targeting the largest loss-making stores first, is progressing well with a reduction of 16 stores in the quarter. We moved our Mothercare website to a new platform in May and, whilst this resulted in significant disruption during the transfer process, recent performance has been very encouraging with positive sales growth in the last five weeks. The quarter ended with a clean stock position and our cashflows have been tightly controlled.
"We remain confident about the delivery of our three-year Transformation and Growth plan with the cost reduction programme on track."
Enquiries to:
Mothercare plc
Ramona Tipnis, Director of Investor Relations 01923 206455
Brunswick Group
Catriona McDermott/Helen Smith 020 7404 5959
Note 1 - 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 Direct in Home and Direct in Store. International retail sales are the estimated retail sales of overseas franchisees and joint ventures and associates to their customers. Total International sales are International retail sales plus International Wholesale sales. Worldwide network sales are total International sales plus total UK sales.
Note 2 - 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.