WH Smith sees strong start to year as Travel sales rise
The group recently opened its largest store in UK Travel, a 6,000 sq ft one-stop-shop format for travel essentials at Birmingham airport
WH Smith has delivered a strong performance in the 20 weeks ended 20 January, with total revenues up by 8%, largely boosted by its Travel division.
Across its global Travel divisions, the group welcomed continued momentum since the start of the financial year. In Travel UK, total revenue was up 15% compared to the prior year for the 20 week period and up 14% on a LFL basis. It comes amid improving passenger numbers across UK Air, while there was also a strong performance in Hospitals and Rail.
The group recently opened its largest store in UK Travel, a 6,000 sq ft one-stop-shop format for travel essentials at Birmingham airport.
Meanwhile, its UK High Street division also delivered a good performance, in line with expectations, with store like-for-like (LFL) revenue up 1% in December.
Looking ahead, the group said it was “confident of another year of significant growth in 2024”.
CEO Carl Cowling said: “I am pleased with the start to the financial year. Our Travel business is growing strongly across all our divisions and we have seen a notably strong performance in the UK, our largest division, with total revenue up 15% and like-for-like revenue up 14%.
“During the period, we successfully opened our largest UK Travel store at Birmingham airport – a one-stop-shop for travel essentials – and we have received very positive feedback from both landlord and customers.”
He added: “We continue to make excellent progress in North America, and I am particularly excited by the substantial growth opportunities that exist in this market. We are on track to open over 50 new stores in North America this financial year.
“The group is trading well and is in its strongest ever position as a global travel retailer. We are confident of another year of significant growth in 2024.”
