Mothercare Plc : Trading Statement

MOTHERCARE PLC

Q3 trading update

FURTHER IMPROVEMENT IN UK - TURNAROUND ON TRACK

INTERNATIONAL MARKETS REMAIN CHALLENGING

OVERALL GROUP PERFORMANCE IN LINE WITH EXPECTATIONS

Mothercare plc, the leading global retailer for parents and young children, today issues the following trading update, which covers the 13 week period to 9 January 2016.

UK

• UK like-for-like sales were up 4.2% during the quarter, benefiting from online sales growth of 11.8%. Online sales now represent over a third of total UK sales
• Gross margin preserved despite the unseasonably warm weather which led to higher stock and a deeper end-of-season sale
• We continued to reconfigure our store portfolio and had 41 stores (25% of space) refurbished and trading in the new format in time for peak trading. We ended the period with 172 stores (164 Mothercare and eight ELC) and 1.6m sq.ft of retail space
• Total UK sales down (0.1)% as improved online and store performance made up for the (6.1)% year-on-year reduction in space

International

• International retail sales were down (1.3)% in constant currency and down (9.5)% in actual currency, reflecting the previously highlighted and ongoing economic and currency headwinds
• All four International regions benefitted from space growth. Europe, Asia and Latin America saw retail sales growth in constant currencies with the Middle East weaker than last year
• International space continuing to develop with the opening of larger stores. Space up 5.8% year-on-year with an increase of 12 stores during Q3 (45 opened and 33 closed) and ended the quarter with 1,322 stores and 3.1m sq.ft. of retail space

Group performance for 13 weeks to 9 January 2016

					13 weeks:	41 weeks:
	FY2015		FY2016		9 January 2016
	Q3	Q4	Q1	Q2	% change year-on-year
UK					Q3	Q3 YTD
Total UK sales	(1.9)	1.5	(0.9)	1.8	(0.1)	0.2
Online sales	16.1	31.8	23.9	20.4	11.8	18.0
UK like-for-like sales (1)	1.1	5.1	1.3	6.5	4.2	3.9
UK space (change in sq.ft.)	(4.2)	(4.5)	(5.3)	(7.4)	(6.1)	(6.1)
International
International retail sales in constant currencies (1)	14.4	11.4	(1.3)	5.6	(1.3)	0.8
International retail sales in actual currencies (1)	5.4	5.5	(4.8)	(5.3)	(9.5)	(6.5)
International space (change in sq.ft.)	11.5	9.0	7.9	6.6	5.8	5.8
Group
Worldwide sales (2)	2.2	4.1	(3.5)	(2.8)	(5.5)	(3.9)
Total group sales (3)	(2.9)	(1.0)	(5.2)	(7.1)	(5.4)	(5.9)

Mark Newton-Jones, Chief Executive Officer of Mothercare plc, said:

"Overall Group performance remains in line with market expectations, with our UK performance further improving and International continuing to be challenging."

"In the UK we have delivered healthy like-for-like sale growth, helped by a strong online performance. We maintained our full price approach and entered the end-of-season sale after peak trading, albeit with higher stock levels as a result of the unseasonably warmer weather. Margins have been preserved and remain within our guidance for the full year."

"With our International partners we continue to modernise our business using lessons learnt from the UK and continue to lay down space for the future. However sales are down as we face ongoing economic and currency headwinds."

"We remain firmly focused on our strategy to build our businesses both in the UK and internationally and 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:

Lorna Else, Interim Director of Communications, Mothercare

John Olsen, 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 up 1.5% year-on-year at the end of the third quarter with space in the UK down (6.1)% year-on-year and International space up 5.8% year-on-year.

6 - We will be announcing our Q4 trading update on Thursday 14 April 2016.

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Source: Mothercare Plc via Globenewswire

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