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WH Smith has reported a 7% rise in group revenues and 5% rise in like-for-like sales for the 12 months to 31 August, driven by travel which was up 10%.
The group’s travel category delivered strong growth because of category development and enhancing ranges, most notably in food and drinks, health and beauty, and technology.
In the UK, WH Smith stated that its strategy to create a one-stop-shop for travel essentials is delivering strong results.
Ahead of the peak trading season, the group launched a new food-to-go offer branded Smith’s Family Kitchen which is performing ahead of expectations and, more recently, it opened its first own-brand Smith’s Kitchen café at Princess Anne Hospital, Southampton.
Meanwhile, high street sales saw a decline of 4% on a total basis and 2% like for like which was in line with expectations.
During the second half, the company has successfully opened 30 Toys ‘R’ Us shop-in-shops within its stores and it expects to open a further 37 Toys “R” Us shop-in-shops ahead of Christmas 2024, taking it to a total of 76.
Alongside its pre-close trading update, the company also announced a £50m share buyback scheme. It stated that its intention, subject to other requirements for capital, is to return surplus cash to investors in line with our capital allocation policy, which includes its targeted leverage range of 0.75x-1.25x.
Carl Cowling, group CEO, said: “We have ended the financial year in a strong position, delivering a performance in line with our expectations with good growth across our Travel businesses. Our UK division performed particularly well over the peak summer trading period.
“We are also today announcing the launch of a £50m share buyback, which reflects strong ongoing cash flow, the receipt of the pension fund buyout cash return, as well as the strength of our balance sheet, with leverage now within our target range.
Cowling added: “Our colleagues have worked extremely hard to deliver these results over what has been a very busy summer, and I would like to thank them for their contribution to the Group’s success.”
