I have been in and out of these a few times :-)) ..... bumping around their bottom but starting to bounce a little ..... closed @ 87/90p on Friday.

They have fallen from grace because of poor distribution probelens caused by poor management and an out of House warehousing system. THis is being sorted and new guys have replaced the old .....

Great brand name and selling could be overdone ..... anyway I am in for a few @ 90p and will let them ride for a while - not a t trade. Recent director buying around this price


ains


bought @ 90p - currently moving up at 141/145p 13/05 = plus 56.66% net

When Fred gets back your mince meat.

why you silly boy?
i pay even less attention to what fred posts that even you
anyway, you say you've filtered me, but seem totally up to speed with my posts :-)

Currently in auction - quite a reversal.

Failed to achieve 200p, lets see if it tries again..

Confirmation of Interest in a Combination

Destination Maternity Corporation Confirms Its Interest in a Combination with Mothercare plc to Create Global Leader in Maternity, Baby and Young Children's Apparel and Products


Philadelphia, PA - 2 July 2014 - Destination Maternity Corporation (Nasdaq: DEST) ("Destination Maternity") is making an announcement today as required by the UK Takeover Code in light of the recent press speculation in respect of Mothercare plc ("Mothercare" or the "Company"). Destination Maternity confirms that it has submitted two non-binding written proposals to Mothercare about a possible combination of the two companies, which have both been rejected by the Board of Directors of Mothercare. Destination Maternity believes its latest increased proposal, which was delivered on 1 June 2014, provides a strong basis for discussions between the parties but Mothercare has refused to engage with Destination Maternity on its proposals. Destination Maternity continues to evaluate its options with regard to a possible combination.

Destination Maternity's latest proposal is for a combination of the two companies under a new UK holding company, which would be listed in the U.S., whereby Mothercare shareholders would receive 300 pence for each Mothercare share, which today would comprise 230 pence in cash and shares in the new holding company valued at 70 pence, and which would value all the issued share capital of Mothercare at approximately £266 million ($453 million, note 1).

Destination Maternity also proposed a mix and match election under which Mothercare shareholders could elect to receive more shares or more cash in an offer, subject to equal and opposite elections by other shareholders.

Destination Maternity's proposal represents:

(i) a premium of approximately 29% to the closing price of Mothercare shares of 232.5 pence on 1 July 2014;

(ii) a premium of approximately 90% to the closing price of Mothercare shares of 157.75 pence on 26 May 2014 (the last trading price before Destination Maternity's original proposal of 27 May 2014);

(iii) a premium of approximately 64% to the closing price of Mothercare shares of 182.50 pence on 30 May 2014 (the last trading price before Destination Maternity's second proposal of 1 June 2014);

(iv) a premium of approximately 86% to the volume-weighted average price of Mothercare shares for the one-month period prior to 26 May 2014 of 161.23 pence; and

(v) an increase of 9% - 20% to the original proposal made by Destination Maternity on 27 May 2014 under which Mothercare shareholders would have received between 250 - 275 pence for each Mothercare share.


more.....

Offer Rejected:

Mothercare has turned down two takeover bids from US-based Destination Maternity, the US company revealed on Wednesday.

Nasdaq-listed Destination Maternity said its second written offer on Tuesday was was worth 300p per Mothercare share, valuing its London-listed peer at £266m ($455m).

That price was a premium of roughly 29% to Mothercare's closing share price on July 1st and a 90% premium to the share price just before the first proposal was made on May 26th.

The second offer would have seen shareholders offered 230p in cash, and 70p in shares of a new combined US-listed, UK-domiciled company.

However, both proposals were rejected by Mothercare's board, which has so far refused to engage in talks.

Mothercare's decision to reject a £270m takeover approach from US rival Destination Maternity has won the backing of two leading institutional shareholders, Fidelity and Allianz Global Investors. Support for the board's position comes despite Destination Maternity's Chief Executive, Ed Krell - a former investment banker - last week flying to the UK to press the case for a deal. - The Guardian

Interim management Statement

Overview for Q1 - 15 weeks to 12 July 2014

International back to double-digit growth with space up 13.3% and constant currency sales up 14.7%. As anticipated currency devaluation has impacted reported retail sales
Global retail space up 7.1% year-on-year with 4.5 million sq.ft. and 1,476 stores in 60 countries
UK like-for-like sales up 0.9% and decline in total UK sales in line with space reduction
Worldwide network sales up 0.2% with Group reported sales down 1.8%

Reduced discount activity in the UK has led to lower sales online at better cash margins, which was in line with expectations
Mark Newton-Jones confirmed as Chief Executive Officer today

more...

Oooops!

Response to announcement

The Board of Mothercare (the "Board") notes the announcement by Destination Maternity that, in accordance with the requirements of the UK City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the "Takeover Code"), Destination Maternity does not intend to make an offer for Mothercare. The Board also notes that it has had no contact with Destination Maternity since 3 June 2014.


As announced in the trading update on 17 July 2014, with the appointment of Mark Newton-Jones as Chief Executive, Mothercare is now fully focused on the Company's plan to turnaround the UK business and to continue its strong International growth. The Board remains confident in the ongoing execution of Mothercare's strategy as an independent company.

Admission of Nil Paid Rights

Mothercare plc (the "Company") announces that, pursuant to the Rights Issue announced on 23 September 2014, 79,942,294 New Ordinary Shares of 50 pence each will be admitted to listing on the premium listing segment of the Official List of the UKLA and will be admitted, nil paid, to trading on the London Stock Exchange plc's main market for listed securities at 8.00 a.m. today.

Just knew it.

Surely the recent US-Offer was quite good for shareholders with their own money in the business? Seems to me that the recent rights was a ~1:1 dilution ( DYOR ). and that merely demonstrated the dire Quality of the existing Execs. . . . so the sooner they leave ( at zero cost ) the better. Today Close, 170p.

Institutional shareholders are not likely to be affected by any result and I distrust their actions across the Market.

Back on my short watch list.... 70p would come as no surprise in Q1 2015

http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4938806

An ex Tesco chap.. O dear.

Q3 trading update



Mothercare plc, the leading global retailer for parents and young children, today issues the following trading update, which covers the 13 week period to 10 January 2015.

Overview for Q3 - 13 weeks to 10 January 2015

Financial highlights

International double-digit growth with constant currency sales up 14.4% and space up 11.5%. As expected, currency devaluation has impacted reported retail sales growth
UK like-for-like sales up 1.1% with total UK sales down 1.9% despite space being down 4.2%
Multi-channel growth with UK online sales up 16.1%, representing 31.8% of total UK sales (26.9% last year)
UK gross margin rate continues to stabilise as a result of more full price sales, lower levels of promotional activity and delaying the end of season sale until Boxing Day
Worldwide sales up 2.2% with reported total Group sales down 2.9%
Operational highlights

Mobile continuing to grow and now accounting for 75% of UK online sessions (65% last year)
Q3 click-and-collect orders up 10.7% representing 36.6% of UK online orders
End of season sale stock 16% lower and sell through rate to date 13% better than last year
During the quarter, we opened 24 International stores (103 opened YTD) and closed 6 UK stores (20 closed YTD)

more....

Seems to be on a roll. Nice gap to be filled eventually. Limit buy left @ 202.0 if filled tight stop 192.0

HEADS UP!!

KEEP AN EYE ON ETX CAPITAL SPREAD BETTING PLATFORM.

On 25th Feb opened a spread bet on MTC @ 189.53 Stop 184.53

Stopped out 0812 this morning @ 172.72 for an alleged loss - 15.3

Needless to say was on the blower like a shot. They confirmed SP didn't happen and reinstated the trade. Never had this problem with Cap Spreads, very rarely use ETX except on short term trades cause they don't offer quarterly bets. Beware. Hopefully this was just a one off genuine mistake.

Cap Spreads suspended trading on this stock. ETX Capital phone only :0)

No problem on IG Chris .

Happens all the time on ETX, rare on Caps Jimmy.