Mothercare Regulatory News (MTC)

MOTHERCARE PLC

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

INTERIM MANAGEMENT STATEMENT

At the Mothercare plc Annual General Meeting to be held at 10.30 this morning, the Chairman will give the following update on trading for the 15 weeks ended 9 July 2011 (first quarter).

Group performance, first quarter:

§ Group network sales(1) up 6.7% 

§ Total group sales up 4.9%

§ International retail sales(1) up 15.2% (up 18.2% at constant exchange rates)

§ Total UK sales down 1.8%

§ UK like-for-like sales(1) down 4.3% (down 3.3% inc. VAT); Direct in Home up 2.0% (up 3.0%

inc. VAT) 

§ Total 1,289 stores in 55 countries 

Ian Peacock, Chairman said:

"We continue to make good progress with our strategy of focusing on the rapid global expansion of International whilst improving the efficiency of the UK business.

"In line with this strategy, International sales grew by 15.2% on top of strong comparatives of +20.3% in the first quarter last year. During the quarter we opened our 900th overseas store. Mothercare and the Early Learning Centre are both seeing strong growth in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. We are further developing our newest market, Latin America, and plan to open stores in Chile for the first time later this year.

"In the UK the trading environment remains difficult and competitive, however our property restructure and cost reduction programme are progressing well. As announced in May, we are targeting a more profitable portfolio of circa 266 UK stores by March 2013. The new store format trials have been well received by customers and the development of our new Mothercare web platform is on track.

"We are planning cautiously in the UK. However we are well placed to drive the performance of our two brands globally. This strategy will continue to create long term sustainable value for shareholders."

Enquiries to:

Mothercare plc

Brunswick Group LLP

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. Group network sales are total International sales plus total UK sales.

Note 2 - As required by the Disclosure and Transparency Rules, we confirm that there has been no significant change in the financial position of the group since last year end. The financial position of the group in the first quarter is broadly in line with the usual seasonal working capital cycle, reflecting both the underlying performance of the group and the property restructure in the UK. This financial year ending 31 March 2012 will contain 53 weeks compared with 52 weeks for our financial year ending 26 March 2011.