WH Smith revenues boosted by airport and station shops

WH Smith’s pivot towards airport and station shops has boosted the retailer’s full-year revenues, despite weakening performance on the high street.

The London-listed company said like-for-like revenue at its travel shops leapt 7% in the year ending August 31, helping to drive a 5% boost in total turnover.

It comes as the retailer said it will also open 37 Toys R Us concessions before Christmas, more than doubling the number of mini-outlets at WH Smith locations.

WH Smith has sought to become a “one-stop-shop” for travel buying in recent years, preferring captive audiences at airports and railway stations to walk-in high street trade.

The newsagent, which has 1,100 outlets across the UK, said its travel division performed strongly over the key spring and summer months, aided by “strong passenger numbers”.

It said it would hand £50 million back to shareholders through a share buyback programme, while it also announced an £85 million cash return as a result of a recent buyout of its pension scheme.

Carl Cowling, WH Smith chief executive, said: “We have ended the financial year in a strong position, delivering a performance in line with our expectations with good growth across our travel businesses.

“Our UK division performed particularly well over the peak summer trading period.

“Our colleagues have worked extremely hard to deliver these results over what has been a very busy summer, and I would like to thank them for their contribution to the group’s success.”

On the high street, WH Smith continued to see declines in revenue, with turnover falling 2% year-on-year.

It comes after the company opened a string of Toys R Us mini-outlets within some of its shops over the year.

The firm’s move to open the first concessions in 2023 marked a return for the children’s chain following its collapse more than six years ago.

Toys R Us went bust in February 2018, before relaunching in October 2022 and striking a deal with WH Smith for concessions in the UK.

WH Smith’s move to open a further 37 Toys R Us shops will take the total to 76 across the newsagent’s estate.