Mothercare profits and revenues plummet in H1 FY26

Mothercare has seen a sharp fall in its profits and revenues in the first half of its 2026 financial year, as store closures in the Middle East and the planned exit from Boots weighed on performance.

Its adjusted EBITDA fell to £0.8m from £1.7m in the 26 weeks to 27 September 2025, while the group reported an adjusted operating loss of £0.5m, compared with an adjusted operating profit of £1.1m in the first half of 2025.

The group reported worldwide retail sales by franchise partners fell 25% to £90.7m, compared with £121.2m a year earlier. On a constant currency basis, sales were down 22%. On a like-for-like basis, retail sales declined 6%.

Mothercare posted an adjusted loss before tax of £1.1m, widening from £1.4m a year earlier. 

Additionally, online retail sales declined to £10.0m from £12.2m, while the total number of stores operated by franchise partners fell to 344, down from 440 a year earlier. 

Total retail space also reduced to 858,000 sq ft from 1.1 million sq ft.

Clive Whiley, chairman of Mothercare, said: “Mothercare is making good progress against our strategic priorities.  After the strategic and operational challenges of the last few years, our performance in the first half shows that Mothercare has been stabilised as a smaller and cash generative business with greatly reduced debt.   

“Our new partnerships with Reliance in South Asia and Ebebek in Turkey are now bearing fruit, underlining the intrinsic value of and opportunity for our brand.”

He added: “From this position of relative strength our key focus for 2026 is to pursue options to rebuild our scale and operations both in the UK and globally, alongside pursuing the refinancing of our existing debt financing facilities.  This is an exciting prospect for our partners, our colleagues and all our stakeholders as we look towards the new year and those opportunities ahead.”