WH Smith hits 8-month high on strong travel outlook

By Geoffrey Smith 

Investing.com -- Shares in WH Smith (LON:SMWH) hit their highest since May on Wednesday as the retailer reported a strong quarter at the end of 2022 and looked forward to cashing in on a rebound in global travel. 

The retailer said it had had a "strong start to the year" and added that it was "confident of a year of significant progress" as its airport-based business in particular continues its recovery from the pandemic. 

WH Smith has put an increasing emphasis on its airport and rail business over its other U.K. high street stores in recent years. While it suffered badly from the collapse of international travel since 2020, its airport stores are now generating revenue well ahead of 2019 levels. In addition to its own brand-name stores, it also operates the InMotion chain of tech accessories. 

In the 20 weeks through January 14, revenue at the group's travel business was up 77% from a year ago and up 48% from pre-pandemic levels, helped by new store openings in Brussels, Kuala Lumpur, and Rome.

Much of its growth has also come from North America, where sales were up 31% on the year and up 20% compared to 2019. It said on Wednesday that it sees "substantial" growth opportunities in the region, noting that it's on course to open 37 stores there in the year ending August 31. 

WH Smith's legacy U.K. business is a very different story. Sales there fell 2% from a year earlier in the 20-week period, and were down 14% from 2019 levels. WH Smith said this was in line with expectations, and that it was able to exit the holiday season with "clean" stock position. It added that it's on track to meet its cost-cutting targets. 

By 03:45 ET (08:45 GMT), WH Smith stock was up 0.8%, having earlier risen as much as 2%.