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

namnews


UK: MOTHERCARE TO CLOSE 15 TOWN CENTRE STORES
Mothercare will close 15 town-centre stores within the next year as it announced the beginning of a 3- year recovery process yesterday. The closures represent 8% of the retailer's 173-strong town-center store portfolio. CEO Ben Gordon said the stores that will close have consistently underperformed and are unlikely to see their performance improve with the measures currently being put in place. The group's 68 out-of-town stores will remain unaffected. Gordon yesterday outlined a three-year recovery program for Mothercare, which has failed to capitalize on the 600,000 births that occur in the U.K. annually.

Although the chains pre-tax loss was higher than had been expected, the share price rose almost 16 per cent to 142p, partly on news that Baugur, the Icelandic group with an eye for undervalued UK retailers, had taken a 3.67% stake. A spokesman for Baugur said it had wanted to raise its stake because it was attracted by the group's strong brand: "There is an underlying strength in the company and it represents good value. There was also some faint encouragement as underlying UK sales rose

This is looking very good again. It has broken out into a new level. It is expected that there will be a very good trading statement and results in a few days.

http://www.citywire.co.uk/partners/default.asp?vid=59451

Gartmore's Williams shops at Mothercare
Published: 12:33 Fri 3 Oct 2003

Gartmore fund manager Gervais Williams argues Mothercare shares could double while motor retailers are still attractive investments.

Williams, an active trader, manages the 222.5 million Gartmore UK & Irish Smaller Companies unit trust as well as the 105 million Gartmore Growth Opportunities (GGO) and 70 million Gartmore Fledgling (GMF) investment trusts. He told Citywire he has recently been 'very, very active', and, despite the large rally among small-caps, can still find plenty of opportunities in the market.


For instance, last month he bought shares in Internet services group Easynet (ESY) during Marconi's sale of 44.7 million shares at 127p each, and has very recently picked up more. The shares are up 2p at 122.5p today.


He said: 'The share price has been weak recently, but the group has a lot of cashflow and it will be cashflow positive soon.'


He has also bought into troubled baby goods retailer Mothercare (MTC), which is also a significant investment for GAM's AAA-rated manager Andrew Green.


'It's had a good run but I still think there could be upside of 50%-100%,' Williams said. 'It has a lot of sceptics, but the group has lots of assets and has had a change of management.'


Mothercare shares have soared from just 85p in February to 221.5p, and are up 7.5p today ahead of a trading statement on Wednesday. In July the retailer, which has disappointed investors on numerous occasions, said like-for-like sales in the UK over the 15 weeks to 11 July rose 3.4%.

Who said retail's dead? -):

"Bartley Green pram gang mum refuses to name her accomplices
Sep 18 2010 by Steve Bradley, Birmingham Mail

A BIRMINGHAM single mum has admitted being part of a gang which brazenly stole expensive prams by removing security tags and simply pushing them out of Mothercare.

Emma Aldred has been warned she faces a stiff community sentence after she stole pushchairs worth 760 from the Merry Hill Centre.

But the three accomplices of mother-of-four Aldred, 35, remain at large after she refused to name them to police for fear of repercussions.

Aldred, of Romsley Road, Bartley Green was caught on CCTV acting as lookout during the theft of the two chairs worth 400 and 360 from Mothercare World on May 22.

Prosecutor Kulbir Paul told Dudley Magistrates Court: This lady along with three others have entered Mothercare World and were picked up on CCTV.

They took the pushchairs into a cubicle, into the disabled toilets, where they were de-tagged. This ladys role is the lookout.

He said Aldred, who pleaded guilty to theft, made a full and frank admission when police visited her at home."

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Now that some of the profits have stopped flying out of the door the SP may resume it's upward trend again -):

A year later and retail profit is 90% down..wow.



Could they fall to sub 100p again.

Yes seems a bit harsh - I've had a small dabble @207.1 - look at the volume.

Its getting worse out there in retail land so be careful.

I got stopped earlier @220.1 +13 and I'm contemplating another stab if it goes much lower - incredible volume (see post 60).

Well done skinny.

Thanks mitzy - a bit rash in hindsight! Over 6 million shares traded now and back to 2003 levels.

150p next ..!

Quite a dramatic intraday chart.

MTC,s SP has been hit hard over recent years on bad home news despite the better news on their international numbers.. but of course they are in the dreaded retail sector. SP down 41% at the mo.

I'm not sure why the chart isn't showing the correct price, but it closed @179.72 -42.03% Assuming the dividend were to be maintained - that gives a 10.18% yield.

Peel Runt have a 150p target.

Cant see the dividend being held .

There are few retailers who demonstrate the desperate state of the industry more than Mothercare .

A good brand, in a market that should be guaranteed to steadily grow the birth rate in Britain in recent years has kept on climbing combined with an expanding overseas business should be a recipe for success. But Mothercare has suffered from a series of profit warnings, the most recent one resulting in the swift departure of chief executive Ben Gordon.

Mothercare has been under attack at the value end by supermarkets, which are able to undercut it, and at the top end by specialist online retailers who can offer either more attractive, or more fashionable baby equipment and clothes.

Shareholders will be keen to hear from the chairman Alan Parker, the man credited with turning Whitbread into such a successful hotels and restaurant business, about how he plans to arrest the decline and how the search for a new chief executive is going.

No analyst has forecast what the half-year profit will be, but consensus for full-year profit is 5.31m, down from 28.5m.

Interim Results.

Financial Results

Worldwide network sales(1) 623.9m, up 5.4% (2010: 592.0m)

Group sales 412.9m, up 4.0% (2010: 397.1m)

Group underlying loss(1) before tax 4.4m (2010: profit of 12.2m)

One-off exceptional charge of 78.5m (59.6m non cash, 18.9m cash). Includes write-down of UK goodwill and other intangibles (55.0m) and UK property restructure charge (19.8m)

Group loss before tax after exceptional charge and other non-underlying items 81.4m (2010: profit of 0.3m)

Net debt 24.6m (2010: 8.6m); total credit facility 90.0m

Underlying basic EPS 5.1p loss (2010: 10.3p profit)

Interim dividend 2.0p (2010: 6.4p)

Key Highlights

International performance:

Strong first half with International retail sales(1) 338.3m (2010: 292.5m), up 15.7%

81 new overseas stores taking total to 975 in 55 countries at H1. Opened 350th overseas Early Learning Centre

First stores opened in Latin America; new joint venture in Ukraine

UK performance:

Weak first half with total UK sales 281.1m, down 4.3%. Like-for-like sales(1) down 7.0% (down 6.0% inc. VAT). Direct in Home sales 42.6m, down 4.2%. Gross margin down 4.0%

New Mothercare website on target for launch in 2012; Wholesale sales 18.4m (2010: 8.3m), up 121.7%

UK property restructure announced in May 2011 on track to deliver significant benefits over next 18 months, targeting a reduced portfolio of 266 stores

Chart says 100p