WH Smith on track to meet expectations
25 January 2012 10:06
WH Smith's chief executive Kate Swann has said that the chain delivered a resilient performance today, having withstood a slide in high street sales.
Ms Swann said that the company was still on track to meet City profit expectations of just under £100 million, after profit margins improved at both its high street shops and in travel stores for the 21 weeks to January 21st.
This was despite a 6% drop in high street sales, where it said a poor selection of celebrity biographies was likely to have dented trade, and a 3% drop for its portfolio of station, airport and motorway stores.
Ms Swann, who joined the business in 2003, has shifted the company's focus away from lower-margin CDs and DVDs and looked to reduce the chain's dependence on the Christmas season.
The former Tesco marketing director said: "Over the past six years both businesses have consistently increased profits and the group is now well balanced between travel and high street.
"As a result of this, the months of November and December now represent less than half of annual group profit compared to over 90% of group profit six years ago."
The company operates more than 1,100 stores, primarily in the UK, comprising 561 travel outlets and 612 high street stores.
Ms Swann added: "Looking ahead, we expect the trading environment to be challenging however we have planned accordingly and continue to be confident in making further progress in the year."
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