WH Smith H1 high street profits fall to £15m ahead of sale

WH Smith has reported that high street trading profits fell, from £22m to £15m, in the six months ended 28 February 2025, while total travel trading profits saw an uplift of 12% to £56m during the same period. 

The group agreed the sale of its UK high street business on 28 March 2025. 

While headline growth before tax and non-underlying items was slightly lower at £45m – down from £46m in the same period last year – total group revenues rose 3% overall to £951m. 

It comes as total revenues in the group’s travel segment rose 6%, with the UK travel operations seeing 7% year-on-year growth; North America a rise of 5%; and the rest of the world (ROW) up 15%. 

During the period, WH Smith won a “major” contract at US East Coast airport, which is said to have “cemented its presence as a leading operator” in travel essentials on the East Coast. 

The group has a pipeline of over 90 stores in travel locations won and yet to open, including over 70 in North America. WH Smith expects to open more than 60 this financial year.  

Carl Cowling, chief executive of WH Smith, said: “The group has had a good first half with consistent like-for-like growth across all our Travel businesses, and we are well-positioned for the peak summer trading period. We continue to win new space, and I am delighted to announce that we have recently secured a significant contract at a major East Coast airport.

“It has been an exceptionally busy period, and I would like to thank our colleagues for their ongoing commitment.”

He added: “The second half of the financial year has started well, and we remain on track to deliver full year results in line with market expectations. We are mindful of the increased level of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, however given the resilient nature of our business, we are well-positioned to benefit from the growth opportunities in global travel retail.”