Mothercare shares plunge after profits warning Shares in Mothercare plunged on Wednesday after the baby products retailer warned that full-year profits were likely to fall below expectations after heavy promotional activity and lower footfall over the festive period hit sales and margins. Like-for-like sales fell 4 per cent in the UK over the period, with total group sales, which include international markets, down 6.1 per cent. Full-year profits were now "likely to be below the current range of market expectations" as the company works on its turnround strategy, Mothercare said. In early London trading, the shares fell 131p, or 31 per cent, to 289p. Simon Calver, Mothercare's chief executive, said: "Difficult UK retail trading conditions and volatility in some of our international markets resulted in weaker than expected worldwide network sales this quarter. In the UK, our stores suffered similar Christmas trading pressures to those reported elsewhere. Customer service scores continue to improve year on year but weaker footfall and higher promotional activity led to lower sales and margins. Aside from the Mothercare brand, the group operates the children's toy group the Early Learning Centre. Mr Calver said online sales were up 15 per cent, but the company had been hurt by a decision to charge for delivery, saying "our decision not to repeat last year's free delivery offer combined with a weak toy market impacted elc.co.uk sales, which resulted in Direct in Home experiencing a reduction during the quarter." He added: "International was impacted by currency deflation reducing the reported rate of growth and by heightened economic volatility. In some of our larger markets such as Russia and the Middle East we have also experienced some unseasonal weather which impacted sales. Trading has been improving more recently. Analyst Matthew Taylor at Numis said: "The UK business has struggled against the promotional market backdrop, lower seasonal footfall and a difficult toy sector." Mothercare is in the midst of a turnround strategy aimed at stemming like-for-like sales declines in its core UK business and eventually returning the division to growth. The group's management has focused on closing stores, improving customer service and sprucing up the online offer. Investors had been hopeful that the strategy was bearing fruit after it reported an underlying profit before tax of £2m for the six months to October 12 - its first underlying profit since 2011.