November 'difficult' month
Baby and maternitywear chain Mothercare has reported third-quarter sales at its UK stores were down 0.7 per cent after 'particularly difficult' trading conditions in November. However, the group said conditions improved in December.

UK sales, including the multichannel Direct in Home business, were up 0.4 per cent for the 13 weeks to January 12. UK store like-for-likes were down 0.3 per cent.

Direct in Home sales rose 22 per cent following the launch of Mothercare's transactional web site, which launched at the beginning of December.

The group said markdown levels were higher than planned over the period, but have now returned to normal levels.

Sales in the international business were up 38 per cent as a result of 'strong like-for-like sales growth and 53 store openings'. The retailer opened its 18th store in Russia and 10th in India in the quarter, bringing its international store count to 319.

Worldwide sales were up 5.1 per cent over the thirteen weeks.

For the year so far, group sales are up 5.1 per cent, UK sales 1.3 per cent and international sales 31 per cent.

Chief executive Ben Gordon said: 'Mothercare has delivered a resilient third-quarter sales performance in what remained a volatile UK consumer environment.'