Mothercare has reported a drop in revenue and international sales as it commenced refinancing discussions with lenders to renegotiate or refinance debt facilities.
In a trading update for the 53 weeks ending March 31, 2024, net global retail sales by franchise partners at Mothercare fell 13% to £281m.
Mothercare said the Middle East market, which makes up for 41% of the retailer’s sales, “continued to be the most challenging, particularly in the latter part of the financial year”, while year-on-year retail sales increased in the UK and Indonesia.
The retailer said adjusted EBITDA was marginally above the £6.7m achieved in the previous year and “in line with market expectations” as it closed the year with net debt of £14.7m.
Mothercare said the group has fully drawn its existing loan facility of £19.7m and had started refinancing talks with its lender to renegotiate debt facilities amid high interest rates.
The retailer added: “We are well advanced in looking at various financing alternatives (including equity and equity linked structures) to give us both additional flexibility and reduced cash financing costs.”
Mothercare chair Clive Whiley said: “As highlighted in my last Chairman’s statement, it has been six years of hard work and transformative change for the group and, on behalf of the board, I would like to thank our colleagues across the business, alongside our pension trustees and all other stakeholders for their unstinting support during these difficult times. That support and the resilience we have built into the business throughout this journey allows us to deal with the major challenges we have faced and Mothercare operations would not be in the profitable and cash-generative position we are today without it.
“Given the exogenous factors influencing some of the company’s operating markets, our immediate priority remains to support our franchise partners, ultimately for the benefit of our own business. However, we have also redoubled our efforts to restore critical mass and are focused on monetising the Mothercare global brand IP. This remains an exciting prospect for our partners, our colleagues and all stakeholders.”
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