Travel recovery boosts H1 revenues, profits at WH Smith

20th Apr 2023 07:44

(Sharecast News) - WH Smith hailed a "strong" first-half performance on Thursday, ahead of its expectations, as the travel segment benefited from a significant recovery in passenger numbers.

The retailer - which has outlets in train stations, airports and on high streets - said first-half revenue rose 41% from the same period a year earlier to £859m, while pre-tax profits grew to £45m from £18m.

WH Smith highlighted strong momentum across its global travel business, with a significant recovery in passenger numbers, strong average transaction value growth, successful category expansion and further space growth.

The group reported total trading profit of £47m for the travel segment, up from £10m in 2022, and trading profit of £24m for the High Street division, down from £26m.

Chief executive Carl Cowling said: "We have seen a strong performance in the first half of the year further strengthening our confidence in the prospects of our global travel business. We expect travel to represent over 70% of group revenue and around 85% of group profit from trading operations by the end of this financial year.

"In North America, we continue to open new stores with 29 opened in the period and these are performing well. At the same time, we have grown our new store pipeline with significant tender wins. We have won a further 28 stores so far this year, including 11 in Canada across Calgary and Edmonton airports. In the current financial year, we expect this division to generate over £50m profit - making it our second largest division."