9th Jan 2019 08:16
LONDON (Alliance News) - Struggling mother and baby products retailer Mothercare PLC on Wednesday reported a sharp drop in its third-quarter sales, suffering online as well as on the high street.
For the 13 weeks to January 5, Mothercare total group sales dropped 18% on the comparative period a year ago.
UK sales were down 18% overall, as both like-for-like sales and online suffered amid a "difficult consumer backdrop", lower discounting and less website visits.
International sales in the quarter improved slightly over the previous period the company said but still fell 3.2% on the third-quarter of the year before.
Mothercare, which in the course of 2018 issued a series of profit warnings, said it is on track to deliver its strategic transformation plan ,which will see at least GBP19 million in cost savings for the year.
Back in May, the company announced a store closing programme in the UK to target cost savings in response to falling consumer footfall. The programme, at the end of which Mothercare will trade from 79 stores of its 137 at May, is now ahead of schedule, it said.
Chief Executive Officer Mark Newton-Jones said: "Whilst the UK continues to be challenging, in part as a result of our planned restructuring, we are still on course to deliver the necessary transformation."
The company added that its plans for the full-year remain unchanged and "in line with previous guidance".
Mothercare shares were trading up 1.3% at 15.72 pence each early Wednesday morning.
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