WH Smith FY earnings seen in line with upgraded guidance

Retailer WH Smith said on Wednesday that it had continued to see a "strong performance" from its travel unit in the second half, with group revenue coming in "comfortably in excess" of pre-Covid levels.

WH Smith stated that despite ongoing disruptions, its travel businesses had continued to benefit from the recent recovery in passenger numbers across all of its key travel markets, with travel revenues surging to 129% of 2019's pre-Covid level in the 26 weeks ended 27 August and group revenues hitting 112% of 2019's result over the same period.

The FTSE 250-listed group did note that high street revenues were still lagging behind 2019 during the second half at 80%.

However, WH Smith highlighted that it now expects its full-year results to be in line with recently upgraded expectations.

"As passenger numbers continue to recover, we have delivered strong ATV growth and higher penetration, driven by our ongoing strategy to significantly enhance our ranges and develop our categories, such as health and beauty and technology," said WH Smith.

"In the UK, our business is performing strongly and similarly North America continues to show good momentum. Rest of the World has been slower to recover but we are now seeing good growth across all our markets, with the strongest recovery in Europe and, more recently, notable improvements in Australia and Asia."

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com