WH Smith is eyeing a return to “meaningful profitability”
Retailer WH Smith has hailed a “good start” to the new financial year amid a continued recovery in its travel stores.
It came as the company reported a group pre-tax loss of £104m for the year to August, reducing its losses from £226m last year.
Total revenues for the year dropped by 13% to £886m against figures for the previous year, as growth in its high street operation was offset by lower sales from train station and airport shops amid reduced traveller footfall.
High street revenues increased by 4 per cent to £485m for the year.
Carl Cowling, group chief executive at WH Smith, said: “The group has delivered a good performance in the evolving trading environment. Despite the challenges of the UK high street, more generally, our high street business has delivered a resilient and profitable performance.”
“Our online businesses have delivered strong growth in the year, including a record performance from funkypigeon.com. We are a financially strong and resilient group with significant opportunities to grow.”
“While we continue to plan with caution, the group is well positioned to capitalise on the recovery in our key markets and take advantage of the many exciting opportunities ahead.”
