Mothercare Regulatory News (MTC)

3 Apr 2008 07:01

Mothercare PLC03 April 2008 3 April 2008 MOTHERCARE PLC FOURTH QUARTER TRADING UPDATE Mothercare plc today issued an update on trading for the fourth quarter (11weeks) and the full year (52 weeks) ended 29 March 2008. This trading update incorporates the sales of the Early Learning Centre sinceacquisition. For ease of analysis, certain figures are also presented on a"comparable" basis(1). Group performance This has been a transformational year for the Mothercare and the Early LearningCentre brands. The integration of the Early Learning Centre is progressing welland our plan for optimising the property portfolio of the group is nearingcompletion. A full update on the integration, together with the associatedbenefits and costs, will be set out with our preliminary results on 22 May 2008. • Group sales in the fourth quarter up 31.6% (up 3.9% on a comparable basis) • Group sales for the full year up 35.1% (up 4.5% on a comparable basis) UK performance We have seen a solid performance from our UK stores business and a particularlystrong performance from Direct in Home. Gross margins have continued to benefitfrom tight stock control, favourable exchange rates and the success of oursourcing strategy. • UK like-for-like sales(2) in the fourth quarter up 2.9% • UK like-for-like sales for the full year up 2.9% • UK sales in the fourth quarter up 31.7% (up 2.4% on a comparable basis) • UK sales for the full year up 36.1% (up 2.7% on a comparable basis) • Direct in Home sales in the fourth quarter up 79.2% (up 24.5% on a comparable basis) • Direct in Home sales for the full year up 106.7% (up 19.7% on a comparable basis) International performance Our International strategy is delivering results. Sales are growing rapidly andthe two brands are developing strongly in 48 countries. • 77 new franchise stores opened in the year, giving a total of 494 stores • Franchisee like-for-like sales up 12.0% in both the second half and full year • International sales in the fourth quarter up 31.3% (up 10.1% on a comparable basis) • International sales for the full year up 30.0% (up 14.6% on a comparable basis) Ben Gordon, Chief Executive said: "This is another strong performance for the recently enlarged Mothercare group,which is benefiting from our strategy of developing Mothercare as the world'sleading specialist parenting brand. "The multi-channel UK business has performed well, particularly Direct in Home,and the integration of the Early Learning Centre is on track. Internationalcontinues its strong momentum, further strengthened by the addition of the EarlyLearning Centre brand, with a total of 494 franchise stores operating today in48 countries." Enquiries to: Mothercare plc Ben Gordon, Chief Executive 01923 206001Neil Harrington, Finance Director 01923 206187 Brunswick Group Catherine Hicks/Anna Jones 020 7404 5959 Note 1 "Comparable" basis assumes that the Early Learning Centre had been owned for thesame period in both the current and prior years and excludes discontinuedactivities. 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 fromthe Early Learning Centre inserts in Mothercare stores are included where theyare trading in existing Mothercare space. Franchisee like-for-like sales areestimated. Like-for-like sales are presented on a comparable basis. Full detailsare set out below: Fourth Quarter Second Half Full Year 11 Weeks to 24 Weeks to 52 Weeks to 29 March 2008 29 March 2008 29 March 2008Total UK sales* +2.4% +2.7% +2.7%Total UK like-for-like sales* +2.9% +3.2% +2.9%UK store sales +0.8% +1.5% +1.3%UK store like-for-like sales +1.0% +1.9% +1.6% • UK sales and UK like-for-like sales include Direct in Home sales. In the third quarter 2006/07 the company introduced, for the first time, two newsales measures which include Direct in Home; being "Total UK sales" and "TotalUK like-for-like sales." These are considered a more meaningful measure of salesgrowth in a multi-channel business. As previously indicated, the measures of "UKstore sales" and "UK store like-for-like sales", which have additionally beenpresented for the past five trading statements, will no longer be included from2008/09. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange