Mothercare PLC Mothercare Plc : Q1 Trading Update
July 14 2016 - 2:00AM
UK Regulatory
TIDMMTC
MOTHERCARE PLC
Q1 trading update
Mothercare plc, the leading global retailer for parents and young
children, today issues the following trading update, which covers the 15
week period to 9 July 2016.
UK
-- UK like-for-like sales up 1.2% with the end-of-season sale brought
forward by one week to clear stock following adverse weather in the
quarter
-- UK online sales up 6.4% with online now 35.5% of total UK sales (LY:
32.7%). Mobile now 84% of online traffic and 61% of online sales
-- Total UK sales down (2.1%), reflecting the (4.8%) year-on-year reduction
in space
-- Retail space at the end of the quarter was 1.6m sq.ft. with 170 stores
(162 Mothercare and eight ELC)
International
-- Constant currency sales were up 3.9% during the quarter with
approximately half of the growth coming from the Middle East due to the
earlier timing of Ramadan
-- Actual currency sales were up 5.1% with the Middle East and Asia
reporting fx gains during the quarter. Although the impact on profit will
be limited due to hedging of royalty receipts
-- Space was up 2.3% year-on-year with 3.0m sq.ft. of retail space and 1,322
stores (958 Mothercare and 364 ELC) at the end of Q1
Group performance for 15 weeks to 9 July 2016
15 weeks:
FY2016 9 July 2016
% change
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 year-on-year
UK Q1
Total UK sales (0.9) 1.8 (0.1) 0.8 (2.1)
Online sales 23.9 20.4 11.8 5.6 6.4
UK like-for-like sales (1) 1.3 6.5 4.2 2.1 1.2
UK space (change in sq.ft.) (5.3) (7.4) (6.1) (6.4) (4.8)
International
International retail sales in constant currencies
(1) (1.3) 5.6 (1.3) (9.7) 3.9
International retail sales in actual currencies
(1) (4.8) (5.3) (9.5) (10.8) 5.1
International space (change in sq.ft.) 7.9 6.6 5.8 4.6 2.3
Group
Worldwide sales (2) (3.5) (2.8) (5.5) (6.7) 2.7
Total group sales (3) (5.2) (7.1) (5.4) 1.4 (1.7)
Mark Newton-Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Mothercare plc, said:
"Our focus remains firmly on the turnaround of our business and putting
strong foundations down for the future and we have made further progress
during this quarter."
"In the UK sales were impacted by unseasonable weather, this resulted in
bringing our end-of-season sale forward by one week to ensure a cleaner
stock position while also making way for the new season's ranges. We
continued with our refurbishment of stores in the quarter and continued
to improve our customers' shopping experience both instore and online."
"International sales were materially helped by the timing of Ramadan,
which was entirely in Q1 this year. We remain cautious and expect to see
continued volatility during the first half of the year in our
International business."
"We have not seen any immediate consumer reaction to the Brexit vote,
but it is too early to call as we went into the end-of-season sale
early. We hedge both dollar purchases and royalty receipts and we expect
limited impact on our financial results this year."
"Our vision remains clear - to be the leading global retailer for
parents and young children."
Investor and Analyst enquiries to:
Mothercare plc
Mark Newton-Jones, Chief Executive Officer
Richard Smothers, Chief Financial Officer
Ramona Tipnis, Director of Investor Relations
01923 206455
Media enquiries to:
Helen Gunter, Director of Communications, Mothercare
John Olsen/Simon Hockridge, MHP Communications
020 3128 8100
Notes:
1 - UK 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 online sales. International retail sales are the
estimated retail sales of overseas franchisees and joint ventures and
associates to their customers. International like-for-like sales are the
estimated franchisee retail sales from stores that have been trading
continuously from the same selling space for at least a year.
2 - Worldwide sales are total International sales plus total UK sales.
Total International sales are International retail sales plus
International Wholesale sales.
3 - Total group sales is a statutory number and is made up of total UK
sales and receipts from our International partners, which includes
royalty payments and the cost of goods dispatched to our franchise
partners.
4 - 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.
5 - Overall space was down (0.2%) year-on-year at the end of the first
quarter with space in the UK down (4.8%) year-on-year and International
space up 2.3% year-on-year.
6 - We will be announcing our Half Year Results on Thursday 24 November
2016.
This announcement is distributed by NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions on
behalf of NASDAQ OMX Corporate Solutions clients.
The issuer of this announcement warrants that they are solely
responsible for the content, accuracy and originality of the information
contained therein.
Source: Mothercare Plc via Globenewswire
HUG#2028480
http://www.mothercare.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 14, 2016 02:00 ET (06:00 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Mothercare (LSE:MTC)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Mothercare (LSE:MTC)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024