Mothercare returns to sales growth

Mothercare surprised investors yesterday as its Jools Oliver and value ranges helped the parenting retailer return to sales growth in the UK.

After slumping into the red by £103m and losing its chief executive following poor sales, Mothercare brought in new boss Simon Calver to lead a turnaround involving store closures and a revamp of its website.

Shares in the group, which operates 203 Mothercare and 77 Early Learning Centres in the UK, rose as much as 20 per cent as Mr Calver revealed signs of progress in the UK.

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The retailer saw same store sales rise 0.3 per cent in the 13 weeks to October 13, after a 6.7 per cent drop in the first quarter, while online sales also bounced back to the black.

Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said: “The new chief executive appears to have made a good start.”

Mr Calver said the chain’s value clothing ranges performed strongly, as well as the Little Bird clothing range from Jools Oliver, wife of TV chef Jamie Oliver.

Mothercare closed 31 stores in the first six months as part of its cost-cutting plan, against its target of around 50 closures for the whole year.

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The wider group, which operates 1,098 international stores, saw total sales decline 7.5 per cent as the impact of the UK store closures offset 10.8 per cent growth overseas.

After a difficult period, the company has recently sounded more optimistic, as it moves to reduce UK store numbers from 311 to 200 by 2015.

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