1 month ago
19 
Rolling coverage of the latest economic and financial news
Mothercare has warned it faces a “highly uncertain” future after its Middle East franchise partner revealed it was set to close most of its franchised stores across the region next year.
The troubled baby products group said it was a “heavy blow” for the firm and has now launched an urgent strategic review, adding that it has sufficient resources to trade for “a number of months”
“Whilst our recent financial performance has been resilient, this is a heavy blow to the Mothercare business and our stakeholders. We will continue to pursue discussions to restore critical mass and value for stakeholders, against this more difficult backdrop.”
“That depends on how price conditions develop. There could be various possibilities. We shouldn’t rule anything out.“
“We’re at a phase where we need to look at various data carefully. But that doesn’t mean we can move slowly. We will analyse data carefully and take timely action as needed.“
“If the renewed rise in energy costs persists, that could add further pressure to wholesale inflation and then consumer inflation. That’s something we need to look out for.“
“Financial conditions are becoming less accommodative as we raise rates ... It’s important to avoid financial conditions from tightening too much, or to cause a big adjustment in asset prices, by raising rates too sharply.“
“It is hard to pinpoint where the neutral rate is, and therefore the terminal rate. It might be the case that as we adjust policy as appropriate, we will know where those rates sit ex-ante.“
“Up till now, our short-term policy focus was to push up underlying inflation from levels below 2%. Now, underlying inflation is approaching 2%. If risks of underlying inflation overshooting 2% materialise, that could have a negative impact on Japan’s economy. It’s important to stabilise underlying inflation at 2%. Our policy phase has changed.“
Continue reading...
Bengali (Bangladesh) · 
English (United States) ·