Foreign expansion helps Mothercare grow sales

INTERNATIONAL expansion has helped boost sales at babycare retailer Mothercare by almost a quarter in the first half of the year.

The baby and mother retailer has opened branches in locations including Kazakhstan, Egypt and Armenia.

And in a trading update, the group announced sales in the first half were up 23.8 per cent , and 4.7 per cent on a like-for-like basis.

International sales in the second quarter were up 40.3 per cent, with 29 new Mothercare stores and 16 Early Learning Centres added in the first half. The firm now has 462 overseas franchises in 45 countries.

Mothercare chief executive Ben Gordon said: "The international franchise business is growing rapidly with stores opened for the first time in Armenia, Belarus, Egypt, Kazakhstan, New Zealand and the Philippines in the first half, strengthening our position as a truly global parenting brand."

Sales in the UK were also boosted in a "strong" second quarter after the completion of the 85 million takeover of the Early Learning Centre.