"In the UK, our strategy of reducing promotional and discount activity and returning to being a full-price retailer has continued to stabilise margin."
Mothercare has reported a 5.1 per cent increase in UK like-for-like sales for Q4 2014.
RetailWeek reports that total UK sales edged up 1.5 per cent in the 11 weeks to March 28th while international retail sales were up 11.4 per cent at constant currency.
However the retailer warned that the business continues to be challenged by foreign currency volatility, which reduced sales to 5.5 per cent on an actual currency basis.
Elsewhere, online sales for the firm are up 32 per cent and now accounts for 30 per cent of its total UK sales.
“The final quarter is in line with our plan," said Mothercare chief executive Mark Newton-Jones.
"In the UK our strategy of reducing promotional and discount activity and returning to being a full-price retailer has continued to stabilise margin.
“By restricting discount periods we produced a stronger end-of-season Sale with improved sell-through rates as a result. Like-for-like and online sales have also benefited from this approach along with the initiatives to improve product and service put in place during the year. In International, the underlying businesses remain robust but economic pressures have affected sales.
“Over the last year, we have made good progress with our strategic plan. It is still early days in our turnaround, but we are putting the foundations in place by modernising and investing in our business.”
