12th Nov 2009 07:00
12 November 2009
WH Smith PLC
Interim Management Statement
WH Smith PLC is today publishing its Interim Management Statement as required by the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency rules, relating to the period from 1 September 2009 to 7 November 2009.
CURRENT TRADING
Total Group sales in the first 10 weeks of the financial year were -1% compared to the same period last year.
WHSmith Travel like-for-like sales were -2%, in line with our expectations. Although passenger numbers in Air remain soft, we are well placed to benefit when passenger numbers recover.
WHSmith High Street like-for-like sales were -4% in the period, in line with our expectations. We continue to focus on delivering our strategy to rebalance the mix of our business towards our core categories.
FINANCIAL POSITION
The Group's financial performance in the current year has started in line with the market's expectations.
Further to our announcement on 15 October 2009 of our intention to return up to £35m of cash to shareholders via a rolling share buyback programme, we have purchased approximately 1.1 million shares to date at an average price of 503.905p.
PROSPECTS
Whilst we remain cautious about the consumer environment and anticipate competitive trading in our markets over the key Christmas period, we have planned accordingly.
-ENDS-
|
Enquiries: |
||
|
WH SMITH PLC |
||
|
Mark Boyle |
Investor Relations |
020 7851 8820 |
|
Sarah Heath |
Media Relations |
020 7851 8850 |
|
BRUNSWICK |
||
|
Tom Buchanan |
020 7404 5959 |
Related Shares:
Wh Smith