Mothercare this morning revealed a 2.8 per cent drop in like-for-like sales for its final fiscal quarter to March 24.
The embattled retailer, which is in the process of considering a company voluntary arrangement (CVA), cited reduced footfall as the reason behind the drop in UK like-for-like sales.
In the 12 weeks to March 24, online sales grew 2.1 per cent with online sales growth of 7.2 per cent, figures that will be welcome news to the company as they continue to navigate a refinancing deal with lenders.
The maternity and childcare retailer said UK sales were 5.6 per cent lower than last year, attributed to the cuts it has made in its retail space, which was reduced by more than 10 per cent.
Mothercare chief executive David Wood said the results were “in line” with previous guidance.
“My immediate priority is to ensure Mothercare is put back on a sound financial footing and to improve its financial performance,” Wood added.
“We continue to make good progress in reducing the size of our UK store estate in response to changing consumer preferences and in reducing our central cost base, but our central focus must be customers and their experience, securing Mothercare’s reputation as the number one specialist for parents.”
Speaking on the recent reports around further store closures and a potential CVA, Wood said, “We remain in constructive dialogue with our financing partners with respect to our financing needs for FY19 and beyond, and we continue to explore additional sources of financing to support and maintain the momentum of our transformation programme.
“All of these discussions are on-going and further updates will be given as appropriate.”
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