Mothercare has hailed a return to underlying profit as international sales boomed and a slimmed-down UK operation narrowed losses.

The underlying profit figure of £2 million for the 28 weeks to October 12 compared to a loss of £1.8m for the same period last year.

However, restructuring and other costs took their toll on the bottom line, meaning the group was still in the red overall by £11m.

Chief executive Simon Calver said: "The benefits of the changes we are making to the business are clear, with a return to underlying profit.

"Our international business continues to deliver double digit growth and the opportunities in these markets remain."

Like-for-like sales in the UK were down 1.4%, narrowing from a 3.4% slump in the same period last year, while underlying losses of £14.9m were £2m less than the previous corresponding period.

Mr Calver said online sales in the UK were growing and customer surveys showed improved satisfaction rates but consumer spending is likely to remain subdued in the second half of the year,

During the period, Mothercare shut down 18 loss-making stores in the UK and now has 237 outlets in the country with 191 Mothercare branded outlets and 46 Early Learning Centres.

Internationally, total sales across 59 countries rose 13% to £399.3m with like-for-like sales growth of 4.8% and underlying profit up 13.5% to £25.2m.