Mothercare Regulatory News (MTC)

4 Apr 2007 07:01

Mothercare PLC04 April 2007 4 April 2007 MOTHERCARE PLC PRE CLOSE TRADING UPDATE Mothercare plc today issued the following update on trading. The statement isbeing made in respect of Mothercare's year (52 weeks) ended 31 March 2007. Allfigures in the statement are comparable with the same weeks in the prior period. Group performance The multi-channel business in the UK and overseas has benefited from theimprovements we have made in product, sourcing and distribution during the year.Group sales for the 11 weeks to 31 March 2007 (fourth quarter) were up 4.4% andfor the 52 weeks to 31 March 2007, were up 5.1%. UK performance 11 Weeks to 24 Weeks to 52 Weeks to 31 March 2007 31 March 2007 31 March 2007Total UK sales* -0.3% +0.1% +1.0%Total UK like-for-like sales* +0.4% +0.6% +1.6%UK store sales % -1.0% -0.8% +0.2%UK store like-for-like sales -0.3% -0.3% +0.8% * total UK sales and total UK like-for-like sales include Direct in Home. The UK business has performed well with total like for like sales up 1.6% in theyear. Direct in Home sales were up 11.0% in the fourth quarter against strongcomparatives and up 15.0% for the year as a whole. International performance 11 Weeks to 24 Weeks to 52 Weeks to 31 March 2007 31 March 2007 31 March 2007Total International sales % +28.0% +33.0% +30.0% International is growing rapidly and the brand continues to develop strongly in38 countries. With a net 62 stores added during the year, we now have 328overseas franchise stores. Ben Gordon, Chief Executive said: "Mothercare has delivered a solid fourth quarter and full year salesperformance, with sales growth of 5.1% for the year despite a tough tradingenvironment in the second half. UK store like-for-like sales were up 0.8% forthe year, and up 1.6% including our Direct business which itself grew by 15.0%in the year. Our International franchise business continues to grow rapidly with sales up30.0% for the full year driven by strong like-for-like sales and 62 new storeopenings." Enquiries to: Mothercare plcBen Gordon, Chief Executive 01923 206001Neil Harrington, Finance Director 01923 206187 Brunswick GroupCatherine Hicks/Anna Jones 020 7404 5959 Note 1 Under IAS 39 (Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement) we arerequired to mark commercial currency hedges to market. We reported an estimatedIAS 39 currency loss of £0.9m in the first half and £2.5m in the third quarter.As a result of the strengthening of Sterling against the US dollar over theyear, which benefits our buying operations, we estimate that the IAS 39 currencyadjustment is now approximately £2.0 million. This is a highly volatile non-cashadjustment which varies daily and does not reflect the underlying profitabilityor cash flows of the business and at the year end we will again present anUnderlying Profit Before Taxation measure which excludes the IAS 39 adjustmentand other exceptional items. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange