Mothercare

Mothercare
Public company (LSE: MTC)
Industry Retail
Founded 1961
Headquarters Cherry Tree Road, Watford, Hertfordshire
Key people
 Clive Whiley (chairman)
Mark Newton-Jones (again!) (CEO)
Products Baby products
Revenue £667 million (2017)[1]
£10.4 million (2017)[1]
£8.2 million (2017)[1]
Number of employees
 5,852 (2012)
Subsidiaries Early Learning Centre
Website www.mothercare.com

Mothercare plc (LSE: MTC) is a British retailer which specialises in products for expectant mothers and in general merchandise for children up to 8 years old. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange, and is a constituent of the FTSE SmallCap Index.

Mothercare in the Woolshops shopping centre, Halifax, West Yorkshire.
Shadows of child seats on shopping trolleys cast their shadows on the front of the Mothercare at Wren Park, Torquay

History

The company was founded by Selim Zilkha and Sir James Goldsmith in 1961.[2] It was first listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1972.[2]

In 1982, it merged with Habitat[2] to form Habitat Mothercare plc. In 1986, Habitat Mothercare plc merged with British Home Stores, to form Storehouse plc.[2] In January 1996, it bought Children's World from Boots,[3] and rebranded all of their superstores Mothercare World stores. In May 2000, the Bhs stores were sold to Philip Green,[3] and Storehouse reverted to the Mothercare brand.[3]

In June 2007, Mothercare bought the Early Learning Centre (ELC) for £85 million.[4] In October 2007, Mothercare launched Gurgle, a pregnancy and parenting social networking website.[5] In November 2009, Mothercare acquired the 50% of Gurgle that it did not already own.[6]

In July 2010, Mothercare bought the trademark and brand of privately owned rival Blooming Marvellous.[7] In May 2011, it was reported that Mothercare was set to undergo a major restructure in their retail sector, resulting in an undisclosed number ELC stores moving into neighbouring Mothercare stores to lower costs.

In May 2018, it was confirmed that Mothercare would close fifty stores in the United Kingdom in an attempt to halt its perilous "financial position".

Operations

The company operates online, on the High Street and out of town, and in November 2009, had over 1,060 stores worldwide of which 389 were in the United Kingdom, and 671 were abroad in 38 other countries.[8]

By 2017, Mothercare operates over 1,302 stores worldwide, with 152 stores in the United Kingdom.

Financials

In September 2014, Mothercare did a nine for ten rights issue issued at 125p per share, a discount of 34.2 per cent to the then current share price to raise £95m net of expenses. Mothercare said it would be used to pay off £40 million in loans.[9] By March 2018, Mothercare were in talks with the banks to waive their covenants, causing Mothercare share price to fall by one third to 22 pence per share.

Also, it is looking to raise more funds to turnaround their business. Mothercare has a pension shortfall of £80m.[10]

Internationally

Ukraine

In Ukraine, the Mothercare brand is represented by MBGroup LLC. Ukrainian Mothercare stores are the same as their European counterparts, with British representatives carefully monitoring the quality of the stores and their staff. The flagship store was opened in August 2004, in Kiev's premier shopping mall "Globus".

It is the largest Mothercare store in Ukraine, both in terms of size and range of products. After rapid expansion, the Mothercare brand is represented in the Ukraine by over twenty stores in Kiev, and several additional stores in Lviv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, Odessa, Donetsk, Vinnytsia and Zaporizhya.

Kuwait

In 1983, M.H. Alshaya Co. began its first franchise operation with the Mothercare brand in Kuwait, which was also its first international store. Alshaya now delivers the Mothercare brand[11] to parents across the Middle East, North Africa, central and eastern Europe, as well as Russia.[12]

Singapore, Malaysia and Hong Kong

In Singapore, the Mothercare brand is represented by Kim Hin International Pte. Ltd. which began in 1984[13] by its founder and current chairman, Pang Kim Hin.[14] Subsequently, the company expanded to include their Malaysian subsidiary Kim Hin Joo (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd. in 1987 and Mother and Child Limited Hong Kong in 1992. The flagship store for Mothercare Malaysia is located at Suria KLCC.

Brunei Darussalam

In Brunei, Mothercare is owned by the Growtech Marketing Group, and has been operating since 1996. There are currently three stores in Brunei, two situated at the Brunei-Muara District and one at the Kuala Belait District. Mothercare Brunei's flagship store is located at Kiulap.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Annual Report 2017" (PDF). Mothercare. Retrieved 25 April 2011.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Mothercare Chief Executive ousted after fourth profits warning in under a year
  3. 1 2 3 UK Business Park:Storehouse Archived 17 May 2014 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ "Mothercare to buy Early Learning Centre" Archived 17 July 2012 at Archive.is, Reuters, 30 April 2007
  5. ↑ Mothercare pre-tax profits increase tenfold, back from the brink Baby Chums, 22 May 2009.
  6. ↑ Mothercare buys remaining 50% of Gurgle.com. Retail Week, 18 September 2009
  7. ↑ Mothercare buys up rival Blooming Marvellous. Daily Mail, 15 July 2010
  8. ↑ "Overseas sales boost Mothercare", BBC News, 16 November 2006
  9. ↑ https://walbrockresearch.com/mothercare-plc-is-going-bust/
  10. ↑ https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/mar/02/mothercare-in-rescue-talks-with-banks-as-uk-retail-crisis-spreads
  11. ↑ http://www.alshaya.com/en/brands
  12. ↑ http://www.malloftheemirates.com/shopping/fashion-children-maternity/mothercare
  13. ↑ http://www.mothercare.com.sg/aboutus/
  14. ↑ http://www.mothercare.com.hk/about-us/
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