WHSmith has reported soaring sales and profits off the back of strengthening footfall in its travel division.
The retailer posted a 28% increase in group revenue to to £1,793m for the year ending 31 August 2023, while headline profit before tax rocketed 96% to £143m.
Trading profit in the travel division grew from £89m to £164m, and although high street sales were flat, the division brought in £33m in profit.
Chief executive Carl Cowling said: “This has been another year of significant progress for the Group. Our Travel divisions have all seen strong growth with Travel UK total revenue up 36%, North America up 32% and ROW up 99%, and I am very pleased with the start to the new financial year.
“Our global travel business is growing in all our key markets. It is highly scalable with multiple medium and long term growth opportunities and we are seeing great results from sharing our expertise and innovation across our different geographies. Our North American business is benefitting from our forensic approach to space management which has always been a key feature of our UK Travel operations. In the same way, the ability of our North American business to provide bespoke retail formats is now being successfully harnessed outside of the US.
“WHSmith is a highly cash generative business. In 2024, we expect to invest a further £140m which will drive further growth and at the same time we expect our leverage to fall within our target range.
“These results would not be possible without the extraordinary efforts of our entire team across the globe, and I would like to offer my sincere thanks for their support.”
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