LONDON (ShareCast) - (ShareCast News) - Parents and young children-focused retailer Mothercare issued a trading update for its first quarter on Thursday, with UK like-for-like sales up 1.2% as the end-of season sale was brought forward by one week to clear stock, following adverse weather in the quarter.
The London-listed firm said UK online sales were up 6.4%, with online now accounting for 35.5% of total UK sales, up from 32.7% last year.

Mobile users form 84% of online traffic and 64% of online sales, the company reported.

Total UK sales were down 2.1%, reflecting the 4.8% year-on-year reduction in space, with retail space at the end of the quarter standing at 1.6 million square feet with 170 stores.

Internationally, constant currency sales were up 3.9% during the quarter with around half of the growth coming from the Middle East, due to the earlier timing of Ramadan.

Actual currency sales were ahead 5.1%, with the Middle East and Asia reporting foreign exchange gains during the quarter, though Mothercare said the impact on profit would be limited due to hedging of royalty receipts.

Space was up 2.3% year-on-year internationally, with 3 million square feet of retail space and 1,322 stores at the end of the quarter.

"Our focus remains firmly on the turnaround of our business and putting strong foundations down for the future and we have made further progress during this quarter," said Mothercare chief executive officer Mark Newton-Jones.

"In the UK sales were impacted by unseasonable weather, this resulted in bringing our end-of-season sale forward by one week to ensure a cleaner stock position while also making way for the new season's ranges.

"We continued with our refurbishment of stores in the quarter and continued to improve our customer's' shopping experience both instore and online," Newton-Jones added.

He noted that international sales were materially helped by the timing of Ramadan, which fell entirely within the quarter.

Newton-Jones said the company remains cautious and expects to see continued volatility during the first half in the international business.

"We have not seen any immediate consumer reaction to the Brexit vote, but it is too early to call as we went into the end-of-season sale early.

"We hedge both dollar purchases and royalty receipts and we expect limited impact on our financial results this year," he explained.

"Our vision remains clear - to be the leading global retailer for parents and young children."

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