19th May 2016 08:13
LONDON (Alliance News) - Mothercare PLC on Thursday said it swung to its first profit in five years thanks to booking lower exceptional costs, although revenue fell as the store chain continued to struggle with its international business and it said it will not pay a final dividend.
The retailer for parents and young children said it made a pretax profit of GBP9.7 million in the financial year ended March 26, having suffered a GBP13.1 million pretax loss the year before, giving Mothercare its first pretax profit in five years.
The company said this was achieved due to it booking lower exceptional charges of GBP10.2 million, down from GBP32.0 million the year before.
Revenue, however, declined to GBP682.3 million from GBP713.9 million, as 0.3% growth in UK sales was offset by a 7.5% fall in international sales.
Mothercare said it is making progress with returning the UK to profitability, but that the international business is still being hit by economic and currency headwinds.
As a result of the investment required to continue turning the business around, Mothercare will not pay a final dividend for the year.
"Whilst we recognise that there is still much to be done in the transformation of our group, we have made good progress overall and our vision remains clear - to be the leading global retailer for parents and young children," Mothercare said in a statement.
Shares in Mothercare were trading up 7.6% at 127.75 pence on Thursday morning.
By Karolina Kaminska; [email protected] @KarolinaAllNews
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