Mothercare losses widen as international sales decline

Losses at struggling parent and child retailer Mothercare widened in the first half of the year as international sales were hit by difficult trading conditions in the Middle East.

In the half to 12 October, the group’s statutory pre-tax loss widened to £21.2m from £18.5m in the first half of last year, with total group revenue down 13.2% to £234.1m.

International retail sales fell 1.6% to £316.4m, with like-for-like sales down 5.7% versus a 3.4% decline in the same period a year ago. The company said it saw growth in the core markets of India, Indonesia and Russia but macroeconomic and trading challenges continued in the Middle East.

In the UK, total sales slumped 19.2% to £131.8m, while LFL sales were down 2%, which was an improvement on the 11.1% decline seen the year before.

Meanwhile, net debt rose to £24.5m from £6.9m at the end of March.

The company announced last month that it would be putting its UK retail business into administration.

Chief executive officer Mark Newton-Jones said: "This has been an extraordinarily challenging period in Mothercare's 58-year history, particularly for our committed, hard-working colleagues who have worked tirelessly to sustain our UK retail operation. It was simply not financially viable to maintain the UK store estate and supporting infrastructure any longer without putting the whole Mothercare Group at risk.

"Whilst this was a very difficult decision and one we didn't take lightly, it completes the transformation of our group into a capital light, cash generative and profitable business and, importantly, protects all of the pensioners of the group."