Travel bounce helps W H Smith beat pre-pandemic revenues for first time

W H Smith saw revenues climb above pre-pandemic levels for the first time in the 15 weeks to 11th June as sales rebounded for its Travel division, however High Street performance lagged behind.

According to its latest trading update, overall group revenue during the period stood at 107% of its level during the same period in 2019, up from 85% and 83% in the first and second quarters of 2022 respectively. 

The High Street division, however, showed a decline on its recent performance, with revenues at 79% of 2019 levels, down on 87% in the first quarter and 84% in the second. 

W H Smith said this included the impact from a cyber attack on its Funky Pigeon business. “We saw a good performance from our Platinum Jubilee ranges which resonated well with customers, and our focus on front of store mega deals is delivering good results,” it said.

The revenue of W H Smith’s Travel arm was strong, standing at 123% of its 2019 level, compared to 81% in the second quarter of 2022 and 83% in the first.

A group statement said: “We remain in a strong position to benefit from the significant growth opportunities across the global travel retail market and currently have over 125 stores won and yet to open. In addition, there are a large number of ongoing tenders across our markets.” 

Revenue for its UK travel sector stood in Q3 at 104% of 2019 levels, compared to just 69% in the first weeks of 2022, while the percentages of 2019 revenue for North America and the rest of the world stood at 111% and 88% respectively. By channel in the UK, air was 114%, hospitals were 102% and rail was 87% compared to 2019 levels.

Outside of the UK and US, W H Smith said it was now seeing recovery across all markets, including Asia and Australia, with the strongest recovery in Europe. The company recently opened its first two stores in Majorca, with another 20 of 31 planned Spanish stores expected to open for the peak summer trading period. 

The retailer said: “While the broader global economy remains uncertain, the Group is well positioned to capitalise on the ongoing recovery in our key markets and take advantage of the many opportunities ahead, including the 125 new stores won and yet to open, and our new store formats and category development across multiple geographies. Travel continues to perform strongly across all three divisions and we expect this to be maintained into the peak summer trading period. As a result, we now anticipate the full year outturn to be at the higher end of analysts’ expectations. “