WH Smith makes “good start” to new financial year
WH Smith has said it made a good start to its new financial year with group revenue up 4% at constant currency in the 21 weeks to 25 January.
Revenue at its travel business, which includes stores at airports and rail stations, increased by 6% on a like-for-like basis while revenue at high street stores fell by 3%.
The retailer’s UK travel division saw total revenue rise by 7% and by the same percentage like-for-like as its new food and extended health and beauty ranges performed well.
Across the wider travel business, WH Smith is continuing to focus on space growth, increasing ATV and spend per passenger, and driving EBIT margins as it looks to benefit from growth in passenger numbers and customers. The retailer said momentum is particularly strong at stores in airports where revenue is growing ahead of passenger numbers.
WH Smith said the fall in high street revenue was as expected, adding that it had exited the Christmas trading period with a clean stock position and is now track to deliver targeted full year cost savings of £11 million.
The retailer has recently announced that it is in talks to sell its 500 high street stores as it looks to focus on its travel business.
Carl Cowling, WH Smith group chief executive, said: “The group has had a good start to the financial year, and we continue to see strong momentum across our core travel business.
“Our UK travel business has delivered another excellent performance across all channels, as we continue to make good progress with the rollout of our one-stop-shop for travel essentials format.
“In North America, we have seen a notable shift in like-for-like revenue growth, up 3%, as a result of the actions we have taken to enhance our ranges and introduce new categories.
“We are also delighted to announce that we have won eight stores at Orlando airport, further to our announcement in November and, more recently, a further four stores at Portland airport. We now have a new store pipeline of c.60 stores in North America.
“The group is in a strong position, and while there is some economic uncertainty, we are confident of another year of good growth in 2025.”
