According to the company’s pre-close trading update, unaudited franchise partner retail sales for the 52 weeks totalled £180m ($242m), down from the prior year, with a 19% decline after stripping out foreign currency effects.
The company’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) reached approximately £1.25m for the year, from £3.5m in the previous 12 months, with the company estimating a £0.1 million impact from the recent conflict in the Middle East.
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Mothercare’s net borrowings for FY26 increased to £5.7m, compared to £3.7m as of March 2025.
Clive Whiley, chairman of Mothercare, stated: “Our results for last year reflect the impact of the continuing uncertainty on our franchise partners’ operations in the Middle East, where any longer-term impact upon supply chains remains unclear at this stage, and the underlying profitability and cash generation of our asset-light franchise system.”
Despite the challenging international environment, Mothercare noted that, excluding the Middle East and the UK, like-for-like total retail sales remained positive for the full year, indicating resilient performance elsewhere within its global franchise operations.
The company continues to see long-term potential for its brand in the UK, where it is seeking a new partner.
Mothercare confirmed there has been no significant change in its overall financial situation since the February 2026 refinancing of its debt facilities, which also delayed further contributions to its pension schemes.
The group’s pension deficit remained flat at £35 million as estimated on 31 December 2025.
Whiley said: “The full refinancing of our debt facilities in February 2026 has bought additional time to engineer a more comprehensive solution to harvest the value of the brand IP and the significant operational gearing available to an expanded business. In these circumstances, the recent financial performance has been usefully resilient as we look to FY27, whilst acknowledging the impact of the continuing disruption from events in the Middle East
“Given the external factors influencing some of the Company’s key operating markets, our immediate priority remains to support our franchise partners, ultimately for the benefit of our own underlying business, where the strength of the Mothercare brand endures. We remain in discussions with several parties to restore critical mass, a process greatly assisted by the recent alignment of the first-charge debt instrument with our equity.”
