This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/int/news/-/news/business-15769198
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Mothercare reports loss after weak UK sales | |
(about 1 hour later) | |
Mothercare has reported a half-year loss of £81.4m and said it is launching a review of its UK business. | |
The firm, which sells goods for mothers-to-be, babies and children, said its UK business was suffering from a "weak" consumer environment. | |
Like-for-like UK sales were 7% lower, while total UK sales fell 4.3%. In contrast, overseas sales were up 15.7%. | |
The hefty loss came after Mothercare wrote down the value of assets and took charges related to UK store closures. | |
Stripping out the one-off costs, the pre-tax loss for the six months to 8 October was £4.4m. | |
Mothercare said in May that it would close 110 UK stores. The retailer - which also owns Early Learning Centre stores - has 353 UK stores and 969 overseas outlets. | |
The company opened 81 international outlets during the six month period. | |
Total revenues rose to £412.9m from £397.1m a year earlier. | |
Alan Parker, Mothercare's executive chairman, said the company had experienced a "difficult" six months. | |
Announcing the review of the firm's UK operations, he said he was "confident that we can return to a profitable and sustainable business in the UK over time". | |
Mothercare is continuing to search for a new chief executive following the announcement that Ben Gordon would stand down by mutual consent on 17 November. | Mothercare is continuing to search for a new chief executive following the announcement that Ben Gordon would stand down by mutual consent on 17 November. |
Previous version
1
Next version