Mothercare sales dip amid Boots exit, Middle East uncertainty

According to the company’s pre-close trading update, unaudited franchise spouse retail income for the 52 weeks totalled £180m ($242m), down from the anterior year, with a 19% diminution aft stripping retired overseas currency effects.

The company’s adjusted net earlier interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) reached astir £1.25m for the year, from £3.5m successful the erstwhile 12 months, with the institution estimating a £0.1 cardinal interaction from the caller struggle successful the Middle East.

Mothercare’s nett borrowings for FY26 accrued to £5.7m, compared to £3.7m arsenic of March 2025.

Clive Whiley, president of Mothercare, stated: “Our results for past twelvemonth bespeak the interaction of the continuing uncertainty connected our franchise partners’ operations successful the Middle East, wherever immoderate longer-term interaction upon proviso chains remains unclear astatine this stage, and the underlying profitability and currency procreation of our asset-light franchise system.”

Despite the challenging planetary environment, Mothercare noted that, excluding the Middle East and the UK, like-for-like full retail income remained affirmative for the afloat year, indicating resilient show elsewhere wrong its planetary franchise operations.

The institution continues to spot semipermanent imaginable for its marque successful the UK, wherever it is seeking a caller partner.

Mothercare confirmed determination has been nary important alteration successful its wide fiscal concern since the February 2026 refinancing of its indebtedness facilities, which besides delayed further contributions to its pension schemes.

The group’s pension shortage remained level astatine £35 cardinal arsenic estimated connected 31 December 2025.

Whiley said: “The afloat refinancing of our indebtedness facilities successful February 2026 has bought further clip to technologist a much broad solution to harvest the worth of the marque IP and the important operational gearing disposable to an expanded business. In these circumstances, the caller fiscal show has been usefully resilient arsenic we look to FY27, whilst acknowledging the interaction of the continuing disruption from events successful the Middle East

“Given the outer factors influencing immoderate of the Company’s cardinal operating markets, our contiguous precedence remains to enactment our franchise partners, yet for the payment of our ain underlying business, wherever the spot of the Mothercare marque endures. We stay successful discussions with respective parties to reconstruct captious mass, a process greatly assisted by the caller alignment of the first-charge indebtedness instrumentality with our equity.”

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