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

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

Results grimmer than I expected so sold @ 149

best thing sante.

uk retailers have been a bad bet for the last 12 months, and bad results from mtc have been forecast for weeks if not months, with a sell recommendation from various sources

Difficult to see where UK_retail will pick-up. On-line is so much easier, althoug a Day-out shopping is what women want, I guess in these difficult times* a bargain on-line is just the ticket - - - and you don't get a Parking ticket, train-delays, mugged/jossled - and so on.

* IMHO, these times are likely to be for another few years, possibly with a good week during the Olympics...


Grr.

I hold a few M&S.

i wouldn't buy the likes of ASC either

Non-Ex. Director buys 30,000 shares. http://moneyam.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/20111122151041H5868.html

Take-over talk in todays papers 10% premium.

Cinven mulling $234 million offer for Mothercare



{ 16:34, Sunday 11 December 2011

LONDON (Reuters) - Buyout firm Cinven is assessing a 150 million pound-plus ($234 million) takeover of mother and baby products retailer Mothercare (LSE: MTC.L - news) , the Sunday Telegraph reported.

The newspaper said Cinven is looking at the retailer with a view to making a cash offer but had yet to approach Mothercare's board. A source familiar with the situation told Reuters on Sunday that Mothercare had not received any approaches.

The Sunday Telegraph said Cinven was most interested in the international potential for the brand, following its franchising success in countries as diverse as Greece and Iraq.

It also believes its performance in Britain could be revived under the right management, the newspaper added.

Meanwhile, the Sunday Times reported Cinven wants to team up with an experienced retail head to spearhead the plans with the favourite being Paul Mason, chairman of Cath Kidston, the homewear and fashion retailer.

The Sunday Times said Mothercare's British stores could be jettisoned by Cinven so it can focus on the better-performing overseas operation.

Mothercare is battling intense competition in Britain from supermarkets and internet players, as well as consumer uncertainty in the face of tough economic headwinds.

In November, it launched a strategic review of its British business having detailed plans in May to close about 110 stores.

Mothercare said it would not comment on market rumour or speculation. Cinven could not be reached for comment.

if it's a bare 10% premium over friday's close, not worth chasing

Agree, 10% is no where near tempting.

Mothercare is to report Thursday and it has seen its shares after gloomy first-half results in November With the price down 75% since the start of 2011, some might be thinking there's a recovery opportunity there, but analysts are expecting to hear of a further fall in revenue.

Third Quarter Trading Update.

Mothercare plc updates on trading for the 13 weeks ended 7 January 2012 ("third quarter").

Group performance : third quarter

§ Worldwide network sales(1) up 3.0%
§ Total group sales down 1.2%
§ International retail sales(1) up 15.0% (up 18.5% at constant exchange rates)
§ UK like-for-like sales(1) down 3.0%(2)
§ Total UK sales down 6.9% mainly due to planned store closures
§ UK Direct in Home sales down 2.2%(2)

Group performance : year-to-date

§ Worldwide network sales(1) up 4.5%
§ Total group sales up 2.0%
§ International retail sales(1) up 15.5%
§ UK like-for-like sales down 5.4%
§ Total UK sales down 5.3%
§ UK Direct in Home sales down 3.4%