WH Smith high street sales continue to suffer amid sale talks
WH Smith high street sales continue to suffer amid sale talks
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WH Smith shares jumped on Wednesday as the retailer revealed strong growth in its travel business has continued to offset the ongoing decline of its high street business. The group, which earlier this week revealed talks to sell its high street arm, saw like-for-like group revenues rise 3 per cent year-on-year in the 21 week period to 25 January.
Its travel arm, covering stores in airports and train stations, saw growth of 6 per cent and helped to offset an expected 3 per cent slump in high street sales. WH Smith said it had a 'clean stock position' in its high street arm and on track to achieve its mission of making a saving £11million for the year.
The chain is 'exploring potential strategic options for this profitable and cash-generative part of the group, including a possible sale'. WH Smith said there was 'no certainty that any agreement will be reached', but added that it would provide updates on the possible sale.
Talks: WH Smith said it was in talks to sell its high street shops. It added: 'Over the past decade, WHSmith has become a focused global travel retailer. The Group's Travel business has over 1,200 stores across 32 countries, and three-quarters of the Group's revenue and 85 per cent of its trading profit comes from the Travel business.'.
