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WH Smith has reported that total group revenues increased 28% to £1.7bn for the year ended 31 August, up from a total of £1.4bn in 2022, despite high street trading profits dipping from £33m in 2022 to £32m.
The retailer did particularly well within the travel category, which saw trading profits increase to £164m during the period from £89m in 2022.
This comes as the global travel retailer saw total revenues increase by 36% in the UK, 32% in North America, and 99% in the rest of the world.
As a result, headline profits before tax and non-underlying items increased 96% to £143m during FY23 from a total of £73m.
WH Smith also has a new store pipeline of over 110 sites – both won and yet to open within its travel segment, over 60 of which will be in North America.
According to the retailer, it has had a strong start to the new financial year, with total travel revenues growing by 16%.
This has been attributed to continued momentum across its travel markets, as revenues in the first nine weeks to 4 November increased 13% within the UK travel segment, 15% in North American and 27% in the rest of the world.
Carl Cowling, chief executive of WH Smith, said: “This has been another year of significant progress for the Group. 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.
“With good trading and very positive prospects, despite the uncertainty in the economic environment, we are confident in the Group’s outlook for the new financial year.”
