Interim Results

Mothercare PLC 20 November 2003 20 November 2003 Mothercare plc Results for the 28 weeks ended 11 October 2003 Key Financials • Company sales up 4.1% to £237.3m (2002: £228.0m) • Like for like UK store sales up 6.4% (2002: down 2.1%) • Gross margins up 5.9 percentage points to 46.9% (2002: 41.0%) • Operating profit £9.5m (2002: loss £9.9m) • Non-operating exceptional credit of £3.8m relating to property disposals • Profit before tax £13.4m (2002: loss before tax of £10.0m) • Basic earnings per share 20.0p (2002: 0.0p) • Earnings per share (before exceptional items) 13.1p (2002: loss per share 14.9p) • Net cash balances of £28.4m (2002: net debt of £0.9m) Operational Highlights • Good progress in five key turnaround projects • Improvement in product quality and availability has resulted in good trading performance • High street store trials successfully completed and phase two fully underway • Distribution working effectively and cost reduction ahead of schedule • Further rationalisation of supply chain achieved • Continuing good performance from Mothercare Direct and Mothercare International Current Trading • Like for like UK store sales for the five weeks to 14 November were up 4.6% • Gross margin improvement sustained Commenting on the results, Ben Gordon, Chief Executive said: 'We are encouraged by the performance of Mothercare in the first half of the year. The results demonstrate that we are making good progress in delivering our turnaround plans and that improvements in our product ranges have been well received by our customers. Trading for the first five weeks into the second half has got off to a good start. However, we do have the key Christmas trading period ahead of us and face tougher comparatives as we move forward. We are in the first year of a three-year turnaround, so much remains to be done to achieve a sustained recovery and continued profit growth.' Enquiries to: Mothercare plc Ben Gordon, Chief Executive 01923 206001 Steven Glew, Finance Director 01923 206140 Brunswick Group Limited Susan Gilchrist/ Philippa Power 020 7404 5959 CHIEF EXECUTIVE'S REVIEW Our objectives for the first half of the year were to complete the stabilisation of the business and to get the turnaround programme fully underway. We have achieved our stabilisation goal and are now implementing our turnaround plans. The results for the period show that we are making progress with the turnaround however, the performance in the first half of last year was particularly weak and we have the key trading period of Christmas and the end of season sale ahead of us. We are less than a year into a three-year turnaround programme. We are determined to see through the actions necessary to fully revitalise and re-engineer this business as the foundation for longer term growth. This will involve significant short-term revenue investment in our business - particularly in the areas of central infrastructure, store staffing and training. We have achieved much in a short period of time but there is still much to do. I would like to thank all those who work at Mothercare for their excellent contribution during this period. RESULTS SUMMARY The results for the first half of the year show an operating profit of £9.5m compared to an operating loss of £9.9m in the first half of last year. The underlying operating profit, excluding non trading items and operating exceptional items, was £8.6m (2002: loss of £8.8m) This substantial improvement in profitability has been achieved through increasing sales and gross margins whilst also reducing distribution costs. All the divisions of our business showed good improvements in profitability in the period. Further details are provided in the financial review. STRATEGY In May we outlined our strategy for the recovery of Mothercare which is in three stages: the stabilisation of the business, the turnaround of performance and the longer term future. STABILISATION The stabilisation stage is now complete with distribution performing effectively, at much reduced cost, a significantly strengthened cash position and overall a good trading performance that has led to an encouraging improvement in sales and gross margin. A key factor in stabilising the business has been the establishment of a new management team to lead the recovery of our business. TURNAROUND Our turnaround plan is focused on five key priorities: store proposition, product and sourcing, supply chain, customer service and our infrastructure. Store Proposition One of our key priorities has been to define the proposition for the high street. In April we launched trials of two propositions, Mothercare Lite and Mother and Baby, which had a different merchandise mix. As part of the trials we also experimented with a number of different refit investment levels. The most successful format was Mothercare Lite. Overall the five Mothercare Lite trial stores achieved a sales growth of 21% which was 12% above the average of our high street stores. The Mothercare Lite stores achieved a cash return on investment, on an annualised basis for the six month trial, in excess of 20%. Customer feedback also demonstrated that the Mothercare Lite proposition is the most appealing. We have therefore instigated a second stage trial (known internally as Superlite) that builds on the Mothercare Lite proposition and the findings from the store refit trials. The new trials are taking place in 13 stores, comprising eight new refits and five conversions from stage one refits. The results will be reviewed after Christmas. Following any necessary fine-tuning we will commence a phased roll-out in the spring of 2004 and anticipate that it should be completed by March 2006. The planning for the next stage of refits has highlighted the poor condition of the majority of our high street portfolio, which has suffered from under-investment over many years. In addition to the 'customer facing' refit work, we will therefore need to undertake some refurbishment work to improve the fabric of the estate. The total cost of the roll-out of our new high street concept and refurbishment programme is now expected to be £20 million over the three year period, an average of some £25 per square foot. Our out of town stores continue to perform satisfactorily and benefit from the improvements in our customer offer. The next step for out of town stores will be to define a clearer and more profitable proposition. Product and Sourcing We have made solid progress with improving our product range, particularly clothing. The new Autumn/Winter range has taken a good step forward in both design and quality and the positive customer reaction is shown in our trading performance. We have also continued our sourcing programme to buy a narrower product range in greater depth which has been a major factor in the improvement in gross margin to 46.9%. We still have much to do to improve our overall product offer. We will continue to focus on improving design and quality. Supply Chain Our logistics network has continued to perform well. Evidence of this progress is that we have reduced distribution costs as a percentage of sales to 6.5% for the first half year, ahead of plan. Improvements to the supply chain have also helped to increase availability from 65% in January to some 80% now and we continue to work hard to improve this further. As we indicated in May, we have integrated our Mothercare Supply warehouse in Lutterworth into our Daventry warehouse. This major warehouse move was achieved on time, within budget and without disruption and has resulted in reduced distribution costs and a shortening of our supply chain. In the short term we continue to improve the efficiency of the current operations. Our longer term focus is to complete our review to determine the best route by product category from factory to customer so that we can achieve seamless and cost effective delivery of products. Customer Service Significantly improving customer service is a key step in turning around Mothercare's performance. We recognise such a change will take time to complete effectively and will require additional training and investment. Over the last six months we have introduced a number of initiatives to raise service standards across the chain. These include a reduction in administrative tasks placed on our staff and improved staff scheduling to ensure that customer needs come first and experienced staff are available at key points of the day, particularly at weekends. Underpinning these improvements will be the introduction of uniform store standards to ensure better visual merchandising and timely product replenishment. Infrastructure The lack of investment in the infrastructure of Mothercare has been a major factor in the historic under performance of the business. We have initiated change programmes to ensure the improvements to systems and procedures are properly prioritised and effectively implemented. Our first priority is to implement a modern merchandise planning system which will allow us to plan and manage our product ranges more effectively. A new system has been selected. A major project has been put in place to deliver this change in spring 2004. The replacement of our store EPOS systems is also a key priority, to provide a reliable platform as the basis for improvements to customer service. We have selected a new system and are currently planning a pilot of the system, prior to the commencement of roll out of the new system in mid 2004. We expect that the investment in these systems, together with further enhancements to central and distribution systems, will be some £15m over the next three years. THE LONGER TERM FUTURE Our focus for the first half of the year has been to establish our turnaround programme and make a difference to our customers. This programme will take some three years to complete but we expect customers will experience continual improvement in our offer throughout that period. There is considerable opportunity to develop the business further through new store development and progressing the potential of our International and Direct businesses over the longer term. CURRENT TRADING Current trading continues to be encouraging with UK store like for like sales for the five weeks to 14 November 2003 up 4.6%. The gross margin improvement in the first half has been sustained. FINANCIAL REVIEW RESULTS SUMMARY The results can be summarised as follows: Sales Operating Profit/(Loss) 28 weeks to 28 weeks to 11 October 12 October 11 October 12 October 2003 2002 2003 2002 £m £m £m £m UK Stores 202.8 195.2 4.7 (11.6) Mothercare Direct 9.3 8.1 0.6 - Mothercare International 25.2 24.7 3.3 2.8 --------- --------- ---------- ---------- Total 237.3 228.0 8.6 (8.8) --------- --------- ---------- ---------- Non trading items /operating 0.9 (1.1) exceptionals ---------- ---------- Operating profit 9.5 (9.9) Non-operating exceptional items 3.8 - Interest 0.1 (0.1) Taxation - 10.0 ---------- ---------- Profit after tax 13.4 - ========== ========== Sales UK Stores UK store sales increased by 3.9% to £202.8m. Like for like sales increased by 6.4%. The sales loss due to net store closures was 2.5%. Five new out of town stores opened in the first half of last year, but the sales gain from these openings has been more than off-set by the sales lost from the 12 stores closed in the last year. Of the 15 store closures announced with our results in May, seven have now been closed. Mothercare Direct Mothercare Direct, our catalogue and website business, had a successful period with sales growing by 14.5% to £9.3m and operating profit growing to £0.6m. The key driver of sales growth has been a 10% increase in active customers. This business has also benefited from the margin growth achieved across the company. Mothercare International Mothercare International also performed well with sales growing by 2.1% to £25.2m and operating profit growing 18.3% to £3.3m. These results reflect a more normal trading period this year compared to the first half of last year when timing differences and trading issues led to a high value of sales at lower margins. Fifteen new franchise stores were opened in the first half taking the total to 188 with a further nine openings planned for the second half year. Operating Profit Group operating profit, was £9.5m compared to a loss of £9.9m in the first half of last year. The underlying operating profit, excluding non trading items and operating exceptional items, was £8.6m (2002: loss of £8.8m). The key factors driving this improvement in operating profit were an increase in sales and gross margin together with a reduction in distribution costs. Gross margin increased by 5.9 percentage points to 46.9%. This was achieved by a better flow of product through our business leading to improved availability to customers and allowing greater full price trading. The gross margin also benefited from a more effective management of markdowns during the summer sale. The improvements in our product range and the early benefits of our sourcing initiatives also played a major role in the improvement. In May we indicated that we aimed to reduce distribution costs to a running rate of 6.5% of sales by March 2004. We are ahead of schedule having reduced costs from 8.1% of sales for the whole of last year to 6.5% of sales for the first half of this year. This reduction has been achieved through effective management of distribution operations allowing consolidation of the Company's operations into three main distribution centres. The operating profit includes a net credit of £0.1m relating to non-trading items and an operating exceptional credit of £0.8m. The non-trading items comprise £0.8m of business stabilisation costs, principally the costs to support our turnaround programme, off-set by credits of £0.9m, relating to the release of the unused element of a provision against clearance stock resulting from the sale of the stock at higher levels than originally anticipated. The operating exceptional credit of £0.8m relates to VAT, primarily due to the successful outcome of an outstanding VAT claim. Non-operating exceptional items The non-operating exceptional credit of £3.8m relates to property items including the sale of our Manchester store where we received a lease premium of £1.2m and the release of amounts accrued and provided for within the loss on sale of Bhs of £2.6m following the early surrender of a vacant leasehold property . Interest and Taxation Net interest income increased to £0.1m from net interest expense of £0.1m last year as a result of the higher average cash balances resulting from the positive cash flow of the business. There is no tax charge in the period due to the utilisation of tax losses of £54m brought forward from prior years. Balance Sheet and Cash Flow The Company had a net cash inflow of £20.7m in the period, leading to the cash balance at the end of the half year of £28.4m (2002: net debt of £0.9m). The increase in cash has resulted from improved trading, the benefits of a working capital reduction of £8.5m, and a reduced level of capital expenditure in the period. Capital expenditure for the period was comparatively low at £2.3m (2002: £8.9m), principally the cost of the first stage of the store refurbishment trials and ongoing store maintenance. We now anticipate that capital expenditure for the full year will be some £10m. This includes the second stage of the store refit trials and the start of the roll out after Christmas together with I.T. expenditure on the merchandise planning system and the start of the EPOS pilot. Preliminary announcement of unaudited results GROUP PROFIT STATEMENT For the 28 weeks ended 11 October 2003 (2002 - 28 weeks ended 12 October 2002) 28 weeks ended 28 weeks ended 11 October 2003 12 October 2002 ------------------- ---------------- Before Exceptional Before Exceptional exceptional items exceptional items 52 weeks ended items (note 2) Total items (note 2) Total 29 March 2003 Note £ million £ million £ million £ million £ million £ million £ million -------------- ----- -------- -------- ------ ------- ------- ------ -------- Turnover 237.3 237.3 228.0 - 228.0 431.7 -------------- ----- -------- -------- ------ ------- ------- ------ -------- Profit/(loss) from retail operations 8.7 0.8 9.5 (9.9) - (9.9) (22.5) Exceptional items 2 - 3.8 3.8 - - - (2.4) Interest (net) 3 0.1 - 0.1 (0.1) - (0.1) 0.1 ---------------- ---- -------- -------- ------ ------- ------- ------ -------- Profit/(loss) before taxation 8.8 4.6 13.4 (10.0) - (10.0) (24.8) Taxation 2, 4 - - - - 10.0 10.0 10.0 ----------------- -------- -------- ------ ------- ------- ------ -------- Profit/(loss) after taxation 8.8 4.6 13.4 (10.0) 10.0 - (14.8) -------- -------- ------- ------- Dividends 5 - - - ------ ------ -------- Retained profit/(loss) 13.4 - (14.8) ---------------- ---- -------- -------- ------ ------ -------- Dividend per share 0.0p 0.0p 0.0p Earnings/(loss) per share before exceptional items 13.1p (14.9p) (29.2p) Basic earnings/(loss) per share 6 20.0p 0.0p (22.0p) Earnings/(loss) per share diluted 6 19.8p 0.0p (22.0p) ---------------- ---- --------- ------- ------ ------- ------- ------ -------- RECONCILIATION OF MOVEMENT IN SHAREHOLDERS' FUNDS 28 weeks ended 28 weeks ended 52 weeks ended 11 October 2003 12 October 2002 29 March 2003 £ million £ million £ million ------------------------ ------------ ----------------- -------- Profit/(loss) for the financial period 13.4 - (14.8) New share capital subscribed 0.2 - - ------------------------ ------------ ----------------- -------- Movement in shareholders' funds 13.6 - (14.8) Opening shareholders' funds 110.6 125.4 125.4 ------------------------ ------------ ----------------- -------- Closing shareholders' funds 124.2 125.4 110.6 ------------------------ ------------ ----------------- -------- GROUP BALANCE SHEET 11 October 2003 12 October 2002 29 March 2003 Note £ million £ million £ million -------------------------- ----- ---------- ---------- ---------- Fixed assets Tangible assets 80.3 90.3 85.6 Investments 5.0 5.0 4.9 -------------------------- ----- ---------- ---------- ---------- 85.3 95.3 90.5 -------------------------- ----- ---------- ---------- ---------- Current assets Stocks 44.2 51.8 48.0 Debtors 27.4 31.2 25.6 Cash at bank and in hand 28.4 2.3 7.7 Creditors - amounts falling due within one year 7 (56.7) (50.4) (54.3) -------------------------- ----- ---------- ---------- ---------- Net current assets 43.3 34.9 27.0 -------------------------- ----- ---------- ---------- ---------- Total assets less current liabilities 128.6 130.2 117.5 -------------------------- ----- ---------- ---------- ---------- Creditors - amounts falling due after more than one year 7 (1.6) (2.7) (2.2) Provisions for liabilities and charges 8 (2.8) (2.1) (4.7) -------------------------- ----- ---------- ---------- ---------- Net assets 124.2 125.4 110.6 -------------------------- ----- ---------- ---------- ---------- Capital and reserves attributable to equity interests Called up share capital 35.3 35.3 35.3 Share premium account 0.2 - - Profit and loss account 88.7 90.1 75.3 -------------------------- ----- ---------- ---------- ---------- 124.2 125.4 110.6 -------------------------- ----- ---------- ---------- ---------- GROUP CASH FLOW STATEMENT 28 weeks ended 28 weeks ended 52 weeks ended 11 October 2003 12 October 2002 29 March 2003 £ million £ million £ million -------------------------- ----- ---------- ----------- ---------- Reconciliation of net cash flow from operating activities Profit/(loss) from retail operations before exceptional items 8.7 (9.9) (19.7) Depreciation 6.1 6.5 14.3 Working capital 8.5 0.8 17.5 Exceptional items (0.4) (0.6) (3.8) -------------------------- ----- ---------- ----------- ---------- Net cash flow from operating activities 22.9 (3.2) 8.3 Returns on investments and servicing of finance 0.1 (0.1) 0.1 Taxation - - - Capital expenditure (2.3) (8.9) (12.0) -------------------------- ----- ---------- ----------- ---------- Trading cash flow 20.7 (12.2) (3.6) Acquisitions and disposals - - - Equity dividends paid - (1.0) (1.0) -------------------------- ----- ---------- ----------- ---------- 20.7 (13.2) (4.6) Management of liquid resources - 6.1 6.1 Financing - - - -------------------------- ----- ---------- ----------- ---------- Increase/(decrease) in cash in the period 20.7 (7.1) 1.5 -------------------------- ----- ---------- ----------- ---------- Reconciliation of net cash flow to movement in net funds 28 weeks ended 28 weeks ended 52 weeks ended 11 October 2003 12 October 2002 29 March 2003 £ million £ million £ million -------------------------- ----- ---------- ----------- ---------- Increase/(decrease) in cash in the period 20.7 (7.1) 1.5 Cash flow from management of liquid resources - (6.1) (6.1) Cash flow from financing - - - -------------------------- ----- ---------- ----------- ---------- Movement in net funds/(debt) in the period 20.7 (13.2) (4.6) Net funds at the beginning of the period 7.7 12.3 12.3 -------------------------- ----- ---------- ----------- ---------- Net funds/(debt) at the end of the period 28.4 (0.9) 7.7 -------------------------- ----- ---------- ----------- ---------- Analysis of net cash 28 weeks ended 28 weeks ended 52 weeks ended 11 October 2003 12 October 2002 29 March 2003 £ million £ million £ million -------------------------- ----- ---------- ----------- ---------- Cash at bank and in hand 28.4 2.3 7.7 Overdrafts - (3.2) - -------------------------- ----- ---------- ----------- ---------- 28.4 (0.9) 7.7 -------------------------- ----- ---------- ----------- ---------- Notes 1 Accounting policies This interim report has been prepared under the historic cost convention and using accounting policies which are consistent with previous years. 2 Exceptional items Profit from retail operations includes an exceptional credit of £0.8 million relating to VAT, principally arising from the successful outcome of an outstanding VAT claim. Exceptional items credited to profit before taxation amount to £3.8 million and comprise the following two items. A settlement has been reached for the early surrender of the lease of a vacant property. This resulted in a release in the period, as an exceptional credit to the profit and loss account, of £2.6 million of amounts accrued and provided for within the loss on sale of Bhs in prior years in respect of this onerous lease. An unconditional agreement was reached, prior to the end of the half year, for the sale of the lease of one of the stores whose disposal was announced in the previous annual report. An exceptional credit of £1.2 million has been recognised in the profit and loss account relating to the lease premium received. The tax effect of the above exceptional items is £nil (2002 - £nil). In the 52 weeks ended 29 March 2003, exceptional costs of £2.8 million were charged to loss from retail operations. These costs related to directors and head office staff redundancy costs of £1.9 million, store staff redundancies of £0.1 million and £0.8m one off costs incurred in renegotiating the group's warehouse and distribution contract during the year. In the 52 weeks ended 29 March 2003, an exceptional charge of £3.1 million was recognised to provide for the loss on disposal of stores. This was offset by £0.7 million profit on stores disposed of during the year. The net exceptional cost of £2.4 million was charged to loss before taxation. In the 28 weeks to 12 October 2002, a corporation tax provision of £10.0 million made in a prior year was released as an exceptional credit to the profit and loss account. This provision related to outstanding tax issues from the reorganisation of various property interests conducted in 1996/7. These have now been resolved with the Inland Revenue. 3 Interest (net) 28 weeks ended 28 weeks ended 52 weeks ended 11 October 2003 12 October 2002 29 March 2003 £ million £ million £ million ------------------------ ---------- ----------- ---------- Interest payable (0.1) (0.2) (0.4) Interest receivable 0.2 0.1 0.5 ------------------------ ---------- ----------- ---------- 0.1 (0.1) 0.1 ------------------------ ---------- ----------- ---------- Notes (continued) 4 Taxation Current tax is calculated at nil per cent (2002 - nil per cent) being the estimated effective rate of tax on the expected result for the 52 weeks ending 27 March 2004. The only significant timing differences impacting the group are accelerated capital allowances and tax losses generated in prior years which are available to offset future profits. The group had tax losses carried forward of approximately £39 million as at 11 October 2003 (2002 - approximately £44 million). A deferred tax asset has been recognised to the extent of any deferred tax liabilities arising primarily from accelerated capital allowances. Due to the uncertainty surrounding Christmas and the January trading period, and given that the business is still in turnaround, the directors believe it is inappropriate to recognise, at this time, a deferred tax asset in respect of the remaining trading losses of £30 million (2002 - £30 million). This will be revisited at the year end. A corporation tax provision of £10.0 million made in a prior year, was released in the year ended 29 March 2003, as set out in note 2. 5 Dividends No interim dividend is to be paid (2002 - nil pence). 6 Earnings/(loss) per share 28 weeks ended 28 weeks ended 52 weeks ended 11 October 2003 12 October 2002 29 March 2003 Weighted average number of shares in issue 67.2m 67.1m 67.2m Dilution - option schemes 0.5m 0.0m 0.0m -------------------------- ---------- ----------- ---------- Diluted weighted average number of shares in issue 67.7m 67.1m 67.2m -------------------------- ---------- ----------- ---------- Profit/(loss) after tax £13.4m £0.0m (£14.8m) Exceptional items (net of tax) £4.6m £10.0m (£4.8m) -------------------------- ---------- ----------- ---------- Profit/(loss) after tax before exceptional items £8.8m (£10.0m) (£19.6m) Basic earnings/(loss) per share 20.0p 0.0p (22.0p) Earnings/(loss) per share before exceptional items 13.1p (14.9p) (29.2p) Diluted basic earnings/(loss) per share 19.8p 0.0p (22.0p) -------------------------- ---------- ----------- ---------- The earnings per share before exceptional items has been calculated to provide further information. It is calculated by dividing the profit after tax but before exceptional items by the weighted average number of shares in issue. Notes (continued) 7 Creditors - amounts falling due within one year and after one year 28 weeks ended 28 weeks ended 52 weeks ended 11 October 2003 12 October 2002 29 March 2003 £ million £ million £ million ------------------------ ---------- ----------- ---------- Amounts falling due within one year Overdrafts - 3.2 - Trade creditors 26.2 26.1 27.8 Corporation tax 0.9 0.9 0.9 Payroll and other taxes, including social security 3.0 1.2 3.1 Accruals and deferred income 25.3 17.5 20.7 Landlords' contributions 1.1 1.4 1.3 Other creditors 0.2 0.1 0.5 ------------------------ ---------- ----------- ---------- 56.7 50.4 54.3 ------------------------ ---------- ----------- ---------- Amounts falling due after one year Landlords' contributions 1.6 2.7 2.2 ------------------------ ---------- ----------- ---------- 8 Provisions for liabilities and charges Property provisions £ million ------------------------ ---------- Opening balance as at 30 March 2003 4.7 Utilised in period (0.5) Released in period (1.4) ------------------------ ---------- Closing balance as at 11 October 2003 2.8 ------------------------ ---------- Property provisions principally represent the costs of store disposals. This interim report was approved by the directors on 19 November 2003. Results for the two half years have not been audited, but have been reviewed by the auditors. The financial information contained in the interim accounts does not constitute statutory accounts as defined in section 240 of the Companies Act 1985. The full year comparatives were extracted from the full group accounts which have been filed with the Registrar of Companies together with an unqualified auditors' report. All shareholders will receive a copy of this statement. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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