WH Smith unveils fresh 50m pound buyback

10th Oct 2013 07:08

Newsagent WH Smith booked full year profit ahead of expectations, lifted its final dividend 15 per cent and announced a further 50m pound share buyback.Pre-tax profit rose 6% to £108m for the year ended August 31st while total sales fell 5% to £1.18bn. Like-for-like (LFL) sales also fell 5%.Travel sales were flat compared to last year and down 4% on a LFL basis. High Street sales dropped 7% and fell 6% on a LFL basis."High Street delivered a resilient performance in challenging trading conditions with further good cash generation and trading profit up 4% to £56m. We saw a good gross margin performance and costs were tightly controlled," the group said in a company statement. The group's Travel business, which covers airports, railway stations, hospitals and motorway service stations, reported 5% increase in trading profit to £66m with further improvement in gross margin and good cash generation.The group also said it will hand over a further £50m via a rolling buyback programme after completing the £50m share buyback announced in August 2012.Chief Executive Stephen Clarke said: "We continue to deliver on our strategy with a strong performance and good profit growth in both businesses. The group remains highly cash generative enabling us to invest in our businesses and in new opportunities, whilst returning cash to shareholders, including a further £50m share buyback announced today."Looking to the year ahead, we continue to plan cautiously in an uncertain environment, however we are a resilient business and are well positioned for continued growth in both the UK and internationally."Operating profit increased to £107m during the year from £102m previously. Earnings per share climbed 15% to 68.5p. A final dividend of 21.3p has been proposed, up 15% on the prior year.CJ