Mothercare moves to AIM amid restructuring

Maternity and childrenswear specialist Mothercare has moved from The London Stock Exchange to the junior market, AIM, as part of its almost-completed restructuring.

“Our resilient performance through the pandemic bears out the robustness of the Mothercare business today,” said chairman Clive Whiley in a statement.

He continued: “We are not immune to the impact of the pandemic on our Franchise Partners’ operations around the world but we arrive on AIM today in good shape, with the next step down in our leverage position to be completed shortly with the CULS conversion of the 19 million pounds shareholder loans into ordinary shares.

“Mothercare faces the future as a conservatively financed, cash generative and profitable business for the first time in many years. That is an exciting prospect for all of our staff and stakeholders.”

In August 2020, Mothercare launched a “more sustainable and less capital-intensive” business model after putting its UK business into administration in 2019 and closing all 79 of its stores.

In November 2020, Mothercare reported a 4.4 million pound adjusted loss before tax for the first half of the year compared to a profit of 4 million pounds last year.

Worldwide sales at the company dropped 42.4 percent to 189.2 million pounds in the period, while total group revenue fell 56.5 percent to 44.4 million pounds.

At the time, the company announced it had secured a 19.5 million pound loan from Gordon Brothers Brands which will be used to repay outstanding debt.

Image: Mothercare UK, Facebook