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| Mothercare sales plunge as losses widen | Mothercare sales plunge as losses widen |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| Sales in the UK arm of baby goods retailer Mothercare plunged almost 9% last year as its losses widened to £87.3m. | Sales in the UK arm of baby goods retailer Mothercare plunged almost 9% last year as its losses widened to £87.3m. |
| The firm said its sales had fallen following reduced consumer confidence after last year's restructuring. | The firm said its sales had fallen following reduced consumer confidence after last year's restructuring. |
| That led to it closing almost a third of its stores. It is now left with 79 and will develop its online sales. | That led to it closing almost a third of its stores. It is now left with 79 and will develop its online sales. |
| But boss Mark Newton-Jones said the firm was on a "sounder footing" after the sale of the Early Learning Centre. | But boss Mark Newton-Jones said the firm was on a "sounder footing" after the sale of the Early Learning Centre. |
| The results for the year to 30 March - delayed from Thursday - detail the attempt by the retailer to rebound from what it describes as last year's "acute financial distress". | |
| It underwent a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), which allowed it to shut 55 shops and reduce rents. | |
| 'Text book recovery' | |
| It also sold the ELC to the Entertainer for £11.5m and its Watford head office for £14.5m. | |
| There was also a "fracture in the relationship" with the non-executive directors and directors, the company said. | |
| "We remain determined to differentiate Mothercare as a textbook recovery case, in parallel demonstrating that boards can and should foster a greater alignment between their debt and equity providers," said chairman Clive Whiley. | |
| Even so, the results detail a worst-case scenario - of further falls in sales and margins - under which it could renegotiate its debt. | |
| Mr Newton-Jones - who left last year, only to be rehired a little over a month later - said: "Whilst this major restructuring activity has resigned in significant headline losses for the year, the business is now on a sounder financial footing." | |
| Losses in the previous financial year were £72.8m. |