Mothercare to close 110 UK stores

18th May 2011 08:03

Mother, baby and child retailer Mothercare revealed a whopping 23.4% drop in annual profit as it announced the closure of more than a quarter of its UK stores.The group, which issued a profit warning at the start of the year, said the downsizing of its store portfolio was in response to the ongoing challenging retail conditions.Underlying pre-tax profit fell to £28.5m for the 52 weeks ended 26 March 2011 from £37.2m the year before. Sales rose 3.6% to £793.6m.While over a hundred high street store closures have been earmarked, a further 40 rent reductions have been pencilled in for March 2013. Sales at UK stores open over a year dropped 4% as UK consumers continue to tighten their purse strings. The retailer expects trading to remain tough.Meanwhile its International goes from strength to strength with sales rising 16.3%."We are on track to meet the International growth targets set out in December and we are announcing today plans to enter Latin America for the first time later this year."A total dividend of 18.3p has been announced, up 8.9% from last time.CJ