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

LOL - It is a cut throat business and a set of knives might come in handy if one was minded to slit the throats of those that are cynical about MTC`s prospects.

If the figures are better than expected then whoosh - upwards and onwards, if not cut and run?

Trading statement http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=5594019

Bounced nicely off its lows on the day of the T/S and seems as though the recovery might continue, at least it has not been death by a thousand cuts cynic.

Settled nicely around these levels and and positive statement could soon seen these restored to 1.20+ range imo.

Hopefully the growth of their on-line sales will be the attraction that may turn the tide.

Or perhaps not.

i have long reckoned MTC to be a crap company, and today's figures do nothing to change that

Hope you shorted it cynic, if so well done. Looks grim, I agree now.

'fraid not ..... only short CLLN which is doing ok for me

StockMarketWire.com
Mothercare said its performance was tracking "below expectations" after sales slipped by 2.4% in the 12 weeks through December, driven by lower footfall at its UK stores.

UK like-for-like sales tumbled 7.2%.

"In our UK business, we took a conscious decision to remain at full price to protect our brand positioning prior to Christmas but to then discount more heavily in the end of season sale," chief executive Mark Newton-Jones said.

"We have subsequently seen good progress with strong sell through rates on Autumn winter clearance lines albeit these carry lower margins and will lead to a further reduction in full year margin as a result."

The company said that, in line with previous announcements, it had taken action to reduce its central cost base, with planned financial benefits to materialise next financial year.

"Going forward, we are not anticipating any improvement in the short-term market conditions for the UK and on this basis the adjusted group profit for the year is likely to be in the range of £1m-to-£5m," Newton-Jones said.

"Whilst the performance of the business has been challenging in the last few months, we remain singularly focussed on transforming Mothercare to be the leading global retailer for parents and young children."

Will they have time to turn it around before a bid comes?

With net debt at £50m what is it worth?

Not a lot. Why bid when you can help yourself to its customers and pick up the pieces (at low/no cost) when it goes belly up.

Peel Hunt Hold 46.58 60.00 40.00 Reiterates

Canaccord comment today:
Management now expects y/e net debt of c. £50m vs. CGe £34m and stated that there is still 'sufficient' liquidity and covenant headroom at this level. We assume a £5m working capital outflow (partly timing), £27m cash cost for exceptionals and pension and £25m capex. We assume that capex falls from £25m in FY18E to £15m in FY19E. While the benefits of central cost reduction should start to come through in FY19E, should there be no improvement in trading, then we think further action would be required in the run-up to peak trading 2018 to secure liquidity.
We think that there is a place for Mothercare in the UK, but the right-sizing of the store portfolio needs to happen faster. International is profitable and could well return to long-term growth. From an equity investment perspective though, the high operational gearing of the UK business makes the risk:reward ratio highly unfavourable, particularly given the weak balance sheet.
Along with y/e net debt of c. £50m the company has an actuarial pension deficit of £139m (2017 tri-annual valuation). The rent bill was £42.8m in FY17 with total operating lease commitments of £235m (average lease length 4.5 years). So, before attributing any value to the assets of the business, the cost of the liabilities is potentially over £400m.
This makes Mothercare a difficult take-out candidate, despite the potential strategic value of the business. The reality is, in our view, that the UK business would already have gone through administration (and potentially come out a stronger, right-sized business) were it not for the cash flows of International keeping it afloat. We cut our DCF based price target from 47p to 29p, reflecting our earnings cuts as well as lower capex assumptions and a roll-forward. Maintain SELL."

Heading for the corporate graveyard?

Mothercare goes down to TEN?

wirth bhindsight (of cpourse0 shame i didn'y have the balls to short MTC back in november
thought i was short CLLN at the time, i also lacked the courage to hold that position, though i'm sure i took at least a modest profit


meanwhile
MTC has long been a basket case in the making, as has been plain to see (and as posted) for many a long day

The issue with "waiting until it goes under" is that more damage may be done and you don't get to keep the ledgers.... all are scattered to the winds. Also, whilst making a Bid might be more-money, in reality you would spend this just trying to gather the scattered pieces.
Therefore, if you wanted a slice of this Business ( or Name, Customer-book, etc.), the smartest thing is to make a Bid -and a moderately good one- before your rivals do.
If no-one likes the business, then let it go under.
Today DYOR, I heard Maplin and ( ToysR Us?) Co have brought in Administrators.... reason being "Brexit" - what an Excuse! . . . and their lack of on-line attention whilst having expensive retail Stores + Staff etc.

Difficult to know where this is going - will "Everything" be On-line soon?

Already it's easier to buy nuts/bolts from China than visit ScrewFix ( who I consider to be expensive, as they only sell box of 200 ).... Whilst they don't have HiStreet stores.....

It wont happen, but companies like Amazon have to pay their fare share of taxes. Until the playing field is leveled. More Mega sheds will be erected. Modern day, above ground coalmines with no daylight and long shifts.

CD - rubbish! ...... shopping habits have changed and have nothing whatsoever to do with whether or not Company X or Y or Z pay £1 or £10m in taxes