13th Apr 2016 06:27
LONDON (Alliance News) - WH Smith PLC on Wednesday said its pretax profit grew in the first half of its financial year as a continued strong performance for its travel division pushed revenue higher.
The books, stationary and magazines retailer said pretax profit for the half year to the end of February rose 11% year-on-year to GBP80.0 million from GBP72.0 million. Trading profit for the travel business, which covers WH Smith branches in airports and train stations, rose 9.0%, while trading profit for its high street branches increased 6.0%.
The rise in profit for the high street branches came amid cost-cutting and efficiency gains which improved margins for the division, as like-for-like sales came in flat and total sales for the high street stores fell 1.0% in the half.
This contrasted with a strong performance for the travel branches, where total sales rose 11% in the half and like-for-like sales grew 5.0%.
Overall, total revenue for WH Smith rose to GBP633.0 million from GBP611.0 million a year earlier in the half, with like-for-like sales for the group rising 2.0%.
WH Smith said it will pay an interim dividend of 13.4 pence per share, up 11% year-on-year.
The company said it remains on track with its cost-cutting plans, with GBP5.0 million in annual costs taken out of the high street business in the first half and another GBP4.0 million expected to be achieved in the second.
"The group has delivered a strong first half with both our Travel and High Street businesses performing well," said Chief Executive Stephen Clarke.
"Looking ahead, we will continue to focus on profitable growth, cash generation and investing in the business to position us well for the future," he added.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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