Mothercare swings to full-year loss

(Sharecast News) - Mothercare said on Friday that it swung to a full-year loss as it pointed to challenging trading conditions in the Middle East and the end of its relationship with Boots in the UK.

In the 52 weeks to 28 March, the parent and child retailer swung to a statutory loss of £5m from a profit of £6.2m the year before, with revenue down 42% to £22.4m. It swung to a pre-tax loss of £4.3m from a profit of £11.9m a year earlier.

Worldwide retail sales by the company's franchise partners fell 22% on the year to £180m. Mothercare attributed this mainly to "longstanding uncertainty" in its Middle Eastern markets, including the more recent impact of the war in Iran, as well as the phasing out of the UK market as it ended its exclusive distribution relationship with Boots at the end of last year.

As far as current trading is concerned, franchise partners recorded total retail sales of £58.5m in the first 19 weeks of FY27, down from £68.8m a year earlier. On a like-for-like basis, excluding the Middle East and the UK, retail sales were positive, it said.

Chairman Clive Whiley said: "The recent financial performance has been resilient as we look to FY27, acknowledging the ongoing situation in the Middle East and the end of our arrangement with Boots in the UK alongside our progress in other markets.

"We remain in discussions to restore critical mass, a process greatly assisted by our successful refinancing and better alignment of the first-charge debt instrument with our equity."

At 1255 BST, the shares were down 18% at 0.70p.

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