Travel cheer for WH Smith as retailer returns to profit
The business said it turned a profit in the six months to the end of February despite the impact of the Omicron variant of coronavirus.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.WH Smith managed to return to a profit in recent months, despite battling the Omicron variant of Covid-19.
The retailer said it has its travel shops to thank for a massive improvement in its fortunes.
Before tax, profit was £18 million in the six months to the end of February, compared with a £38 million loss in the same period a year ago.
Chief executive Carl Cowling said: “The group has delivered a good performance, with a strong rebound in profitability.
“We have seen a recovery across all our travel markets despite the impact of the Omicron variant in Q2, and we are in a strong position to capture growth as the recovery continues.”
The travel business, which runs shops in airports and railway stations, reported a 125% rise in revenue to £338 million over the six months.
In the UK, which is WH Smith’s biggest travel market, revenue in the unit was up 139%.
During the first few months of the financial year travel had been steadily improving, but was hit by the emergence of Omicron.
The business said it continued trading and anticipated that the variant’s impact would be short-lived.
“Since February, as travel restrictions have been further eased, we have seen the recovery in our travel markets continue, with a strong performance over the Easter holiday period,” it said.
Bosses said they plan to invest in new travel shops as the market recovers and have 125 new sites in the pipeline.
Revenue from WH Smith’s high street shops remained unchanged at £270 million.
“Our high street business delivered a resilient and profitable performance in the period, despite the challenges facing the UK high street,” Mr Cowling said.
“During the period, our online businesses continued to perform well against a strong pandemic-related performance in the prior year.
“Looking ahead, we continue to invest in the business where we see attractive growth opportunities and have positioned the group well to benefit from the return of passenger numbers.
“We have improved the scale and footprint of the business and are operationally stronger than prior to the pandemic.”