Mothercare managed to stay “marginally” in profit in its pre-close trading statement, despite seeing a decline in retail sales.
The nursery retailer said its adjusted EBITDA for the year ended 30 March was marginally above the £6.7m seen in its previous year, remaining in line with market expectations.
Draft figures for its unaudited net worldwide retail sales by franchise partners reached £281m for the period, marking a 13% drop from last year.
Mothercare attributed its sales drop to difficult market conditions in the Middle East, which accounts for 41% of its total retail sales, while year-on-year retail sales rose in the UK.
The company pulled in net debt of £14.7m, but insisted its EBITDA rise showed improvement in the “underlying profitability” of the retailer.
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Mothercare chairman Clive Whiley said: “Given the exogenous factors influencing some of the company’s operating markets, our immediate priority remains to support our franchise partners, ultimately for the benefit of our own business, however we have also redoubled our efforts to restore critical mass and are focused upon monetising the Mothercare global brand IP.
“This remains an exciting prospect for our partners, our colleagues and all stakeholders.”
Back in February, Poundland was forced to remove its ‘Motherland’ signs from its new store, after claiming that Mothercare “threw their toys out of the pram” and issued a cease and desist.
The discounter had initially unveiled a new flagship store in Biggleswad in Bedfordshire, which it dubbed ‘Motherland’ due to its extensive baby and kidswear collection.
However, Mothercare issued a cease and desist to the discounter, claiming there was closeness of the branding to its own.
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