Mothercare prices set to rise after pound's Brexit slump
Mothercare’s prices are set to rise by up to 5% from the summer as the impact of the pound’s post-Brexit slump starts to show.
Sterling’s weakness has made imported goods more expensive and the mother-and-baby retailer’s boss, Mark Newton-Jones, said selling prices are likely to go up by 3 to 5% when current currency hedging policies expire in the coming months.
Mothercare buys about half its products in dollars.
But Newton-Jones played down the potential effect on demand, saying the rises would amount to an extra 40p on clothing and were not as significant those in other categories, like electricals.
“We don’t see inflationary pressures as a really big deal. The bigger issue overall is whether our customer is experiencing inflation in food and whatever else she is buying and what impact that has.”
UK same-store sales rose 4.5% in the fourth quarter as upgrades to stores and the website paid off.
