Mothercare plc News Announcement

Mothercare PLC - Trading Statement

RNS Number:9117F
Mothercare PLC
18 October 2007


18 October 2007


                                MOTHERCARE PLC
                         SECOND QUARTER TRADING UPDATE


Mothercare plc, the leading global retailer of parenting and children's
products, today issued an update on trading in respect of Mothercare's second
quarter (13 weeks ended 13 October 2007) and half year (28 weeks ended 13
October 2007).

The full financial performance for the first half of the year will be reported
when Mothercare's interim results are announced on 22 November 2007.


Acquisition of The Early Learning Centre (ELC)

On 19 June 2007, Mothercare completed the acquisition of ELC and this trading
update incorporates the results of ELC for the 16 weeks since acquisition.

For ease of analysis, certain figures are also presented on a 'comparable'
basis, which assumes that ELC had been owned for the same period in the prior
year. Like-for-like sales for Mothercare and ELC, which have been calculated on
this comparable basis, are set out below. Due to the rapid integration and
merger of the two businesses, separate figures will not be presented in future
trading statements.

The integration of the two businesses is on track and we already have 21 Early
Learning Centre inserts trading well in Mothercare stores.


Group performance

Our multi-channel global business continues to benefit from improvements in
product, sourcing, stores and distribution.

   *  Group sales in the second quarter up 38.3% (up 5.2% on a comparable basis)
   *  Group sales in the first half up 23.8% (up 4.7% on a comparable basis)

UK performance

   *  UK like-for-like sales in the second quarter up 3.4%, with Mothercare up
      3.9% and ELC up 1.9%
   *  UK sales in the second quarter up 37.9% (up 2.5% on a comparable basis)
   *  UK sales in the first half up 22.0% (up 1.5% on a comparable basis)

+---------------------------+----------------+-----------------+
|Comparable Basis           |Second Quarter  |First Half       |
+---------------------------+----------------+-----------------+
|UK sales*                  |+2.5%           |+1.5%            |
+---------------------------+----------------+-----------------+
|UK like-for-like sales*    |+3.4%           |+2.5%            |
+---------------------------+----------------+-----------------+
|UK store sales             |+0.8%           |+0.3%            |
+---------------------------+----------------+-----------------+
|UK store like-for-like     |+1.7%           |+1.2%            |
|sales                      |                |                 |
+---------------------------+----------------+-----------------+


* UK sales and UK like-for-like sales include Direct in Home sales, which were
  up 102.0% (up 27.8% on a comparable basis) in the second quarter and up 61.2%
  (up 22.5%) in the first half.


The group's gross margin in the UK has benefited from improvements we have made
to the business, including our new sourcing strategy announced in May, which
included the addition of a sourcing office in China to complement the recently
opened offices in India.

International performance

   *  International sales in the second quarter up 40.3% (up 20.3% on a
      comparable basis)
   *  International sales in the first half up 33.1% (up 21.7% on a
      comparable basis)

International is growing rapidly. We have added 29 new Mothercare stores and 16
new ELC stores during the first half and we now have 462 overseas franchise
stores (357 Mothercare, 105 ELC), in 45 countries.


Ben Gordon, Chief Executive said:

'Our multi-channel UK business has delivered a strong performance with
like-for-like sales up 3.4% in the second quarter. The International franchise
business is also growing rapidly with stores opened for the first time in
Armenia, Belarus, Egypt, Kazakhstan, New Zealand and The Philippines in the
first half, strengthening our position as a truly global parenting brand.

'Although it is still early days, we are pleased with the progress we have made
to date with the integration of the Mothercare and Early Learning Centre
businesses. We have already opened 21 Early Learning Centre inserts within
Mothercare stores in advance of Christmas, a trading period of increased
importance for the enlarged Mothercare group.'


Enquiries to:

Mothercare plc
Ben Gordon, Chief Executive                      01923 206001
Neil Harrington, Finance Director                01923 206187

Brunswick Group
Catherine Hicks/Dominic McMullan                 020 7404 5959


Note 1

To assist analysis, additional information concerning the seasonality of the
Early Learning Centre business, together with an estimate of pre-acquisition
results, has today been added to our website www.mothercare.com.


Note 2

Like-for-like sales are defined as sales growth for stores that have been
trading continuously from the same selling space for at least a year. Sales from
ELC inserts in Mothercare stores are included as they are trading in existing
Mothercare space.


                      This information is provided by RNS
            The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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