Mothercare Regulatory News (MTC)

18 Oct 2007 07:01

Mothercare PLC18 October 2007 18 October 2007 MOTHERCARE PLC SECOND QUARTER TRADING UPDATE Mothercare plc, the leading global retailer of parenting and children'sproducts, today issued an update on trading in respect of Mothercare's secondquarter (13 weeks ended 13 October 2007) and half year (28 weeks ended 13October 2007). The full financial performance for the first half of the year will be reportedwhen Mothercare's interim results are announced on 22 November 2007. Acquisition of The Early Learning Centre (ELC) On 19 June 2007, Mothercare completed the acquisition of ELC and this tradingupdate incorporates the results of ELC for the 16 weeks since acquisition. For ease of analysis, certain figures are also presented on a "comparable"basis, which assumes that ELC had been owned for the same period in the prioryear. Like-for-like sales for Mothercare and ELC, which have been calculated onthis comparable basis, are set out below. Due to the rapid integration andmerger of the two businesses, separate figures will not be presented in futuretrading statements. The integration of the two businesses is on track and we already have 21 EarlyLearning Centre inserts trading well in Mothercare stores. Group performance Our multi-channel global business continues to benefit from improvements inproduct, sourcing, stores and distribution. • Group sales in the second quarter up 38.3% (up 5.2% on a comparable basis) • Group sales in the first half up 23.8% (up 4.7% on a comparable basis) UK performance • UK like-for-like sales in the second quarter up 3.4%, with Mothercare up 3.9% and ELC up 1.9% • UK sales in the second quarter up 37.9% (up 2.5% on a comparable basis) • UK sales in the first half up 22.0% (up 1.5% on a comparable basis) +---------------------------+----------------+-----------------+|Comparable Basis |Second Quarter |First Half |+---------------------------+----------------+-----------------+|UK sales* |+2.5% |+1.5% |+---------------------------+----------------+-----------------+|UK like-for-like sales* |+3.4% |+2.5% |+---------------------------+----------------+-----------------+|UK store sales |+0.8% |+0.3% |+---------------------------+----------------+-----------------+|UK store like-for-like |+1.7% |+1.2% ||sales | | |+---------------------------+----------------+-----------------+ * UK sales and UK like-for-like sales include Direct in Home sales, which were up 102.0% (up 27.8% on a comparable basis) in the second quarter and up 61.2% (up 22.5%) in the first half. The group's gross margin in the UK has benefited from improvements we have madeto the business, including our new sourcing strategy announced in May, whichincluded the addition of a sourcing office in China to complement the recentlyopened offices in India. International performance • International sales in the second quarter up 40.3% (up 20.3% on a comparable basis) • International sales in the first half up 33.1% (up 21.7% on a comparable basis) International is growing rapidly. We have added 29 new Mothercare stores and 16new ELC stores during the first half and we now have 462 overseas franchisestores (357 Mothercare, 105 ELC), in 45 countries. Ben Gordon, Chief Executive said: "Our multi-channel UK business has delivered a strong performance withlike-for-like sales up 3.4% in the second quarter. The International franchisebusiness is also growing rapidly with stores opened for the first time inArmenia, Belarus, Egypt, Kazakhstan, New Zealand and The Philippines in thefirst half, strengthening our position as a truly global parenting brand. "Although it is still early days, we are pleased with the progress we have madeto date with the integration of the Mothercare and Early Learning Centrebusinesses. We have already opened 21 Early Learning Centre inserts withinMothercare stores in advance of Christmas, a trading period of increasedimportance for the enlarged Mothercare group." Enquiries to: Mothercare plcBen Gordon, Chief Executive 01923 206001Neil Harrington, Finance Director 01923 206187 Brunswick GroupCatherine Hicks/Dominic McMullan 020 7404 5959 Note 1 To assist analysis, additional information concerning the seasonality of theEarly Learning Centre business, together with an estimate of pre-acquisitionresults, has today been added to our website www.mothercare.com. Note 2 Like-for-like sales are defined as sales growth for stores that have beentrading continuously from the same selling space for at least a year. Sales fromELC inserts in Mothercare stores are included as they are trading in existingMothercare space. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange