Wednesday preview: WH Smith unfolds trading update

24th Jan 2017 13:08

(ShareCast News) - UK stationary and newsagent retailer WH Smith reports a trading update on Wednesday, covering the first 20 weeks of fiscal year 2017.At the full year results in October 2016, WH Smith reported group revenue rose 1% on a like-for-like basis, as a 4% increase in sales at its Travel division offset a 2% decline at High Street stores.The company's Travel business, which includes stores at airports and train stations, has become the main driver of the group's revenue. In an effort to turn around the High Street unit, WH Smith is working on cutting costs and improving margins.Investors will be focused on the progress WH Smith has made since the annual results.Numis analyst Matthew Taylor said: "We expect the group to deliver an in-line update, with assurances on the strategic outlook, gross margin gains and cost savings programme."The broker added that WH Smith has some "challenging" comparatives from last year when Travel delivered like-for-like sales growth of 5% over the first 20 weeks of 2016. The High Street saw flat like-for-like sales over the period."Our fiscal year forecasts assume like-for-likes of +4.5% in Travel and -2.0% in High Street," Taylor said.Wednesday 25 January INTERIM DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE ICAP, Real Good Food , Zhejiang Expressway Co 'H' Shares INTERIM EX-DIVIDEND DATE Tongaat-Hulett Ltd. QUARTERLY PAYMENT DATE General Electric Co INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS Crude Oil Inventories (US) (15:30) House Price Index (US) (14:00) IFO Business Climate (GER) (09:00) IFO Current Assessment (GER) (09:00) IFO Expectations (GER) (09:00) MBA Mortgage Applications (US) (12:00) EGMS OPG Power Ventures AGMS Henderson Alternative Strategies Trust , Octopus VCT 3, Octopus VCT 4, Patisserie Holdings , Polo Resources Ltd. (DI), Renew Holdings, Schroder Asia Pacific Fund UK ECONOMIC ANNOUNCEMENTS CBI Industrial Trends Surveys (11:00) FINAL DIVIDEND PAYMENT DATE Diploma, Majedie Investments