Mothercare worth just £29m as crisis deepens
MORE than £4.3m was wiped off the value of Mothercare as the troubled retailer desperately battles to survive.
The struggling baby goods retailer is reportedly looking to enter into a company voluntary arrangement – a type of insolvency that allows it to stay in business – to avoid having to close its doors.
The move could see it close up to 50 of its 143 stores and negotiate down the rents on others in a bid to slash its costs.
It comes less than a week after the firm parachuted in former Tesco director David Wood in place of fired Mark Newton- Jones in a bid to turn around its fortunes.
The 57-year old retailer is just one of many High Street names, such as Carpetright and Next, which are struggling in the fight against cheaper online retailers.
In just five years more than £600m has been wiped off the value of Mothercare and, yesterday, its shares fell a further 13pc or 2.54p to 17.06p. It is now valued at just £29m.
The FTSE 100 was back in the
black after Friday’s fall, rising 0.15pc or 11.11 points to 7194.75. The FTSE 250, however, ended the day down 0.23pc or 45.82 points at 19484.35.
Capita’s shares narrowly avoiding sinking to a 20-year low following a brief end-of-day rally.
The FTSE 250 outsourcer has suffered from a souring of investor sentiment in the wake of Carillion’s collapse. Its shares slid 4.3pc or 5.9p to 132.1p.
Sticking with the FTSE 250, gold miner Centamin’s shares dived on the back of disappointing production figures. It produced 124,296 ounces of the yellow metal in the three months ending March 31, down 19pc compared with the previous quarter but up 14pc yearonyear. Shares in Centamin dipped 4.8pc or 7.35p to 145.05p. Among the small-caps, shares in
Hollywood Bowl, the UK’s largest ten-pin bowling chain, ticked up on the back of a solid trading update. The firm, which has 59 ten pin bowling alleys across the UK, reported a 9.3pc revenue increase in the six months ending March 31.
Analysts at Peel Hunt said the firm was on track to meet its fullyear forecasts at the very least as it increased its target price from 215p to 230p. Shares rose 2.5pc or 5p to 209p. On AIM, oil and gas company
Pantheon Resources saw its value nearly halve after it suffered operational issues and a dip in production at its Texas onshore wells.
Shares plunged 47.2pc or 23.25p to 26p.
One of Fever-Tree’s non-executive directors backed the tonic maker’s shares to continue their impressive rise by snapping up more than £268,000-worth. Kevin Havelock bought 10,000 shares at £26.83 each. Shares ended the day down 0.7pc or 20p at 2685p. Shares in Keywords Studios, which supplies technical services to the video games sector, were boosted by its £4.5m deal to buy Cord Worldwide and Laced Music, and a set of impressive results. Cord provides music branding for firms, while Laced is a record label supplying soundtracks for video games.
Separately, Keywords, which counts games giants Microsoft, Sony and Electronic Arts among its clients, reported a 57pc increase in revenue and a 55pc increase in pre-tax profits in the year to December 31. Shares hopped 2.4pc or 38p to 1620p.
Security software firm Defenx went cap in hand to investors to raise much-needed funds. The firm plans to raise £1.2m to meet its debt obligations, to rebuild its team after a number of departures and to boost its working capital.
It was forced to issue a profit warning last October after it failed to convert a number of high-value enquiries into firm orders. The news reassured investors and its shares leapt 63.6pc or 7p to 18p.