UK-based travel retailer WHSmith has reported a total revenue of £1.79bn ($2.19bn) in fiscal year (FY) 2023, an increase of 28% from £1.40bn in FY22.
During the year ending 31 August 2023, the company’s total travel revenue grew by 16% and Travel UK revenue rose by 36%.
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In North America and the Rest of the World (ROW), WHSmith posted revenue growth of 32% and 99%, respectively.
During the year, the retailer saw its headline profit before tax and non-underlying items surge by 96% to £143m against £73m in 2022.
Total Travel trading profit over the fiscal grew to £164m while High Street trading profit was £32m versus £33m in FY22.
The retailer’s headline diluted earnings per share (EPS) before non-underlying items were 80.3p in FY23, increasing 93% from 41.7p in FY22.
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By GlobalDataWith a total of 92 stores won across the UK, North America and ROW in FY23, WHSmith now has more than 110 stores won and due to open.
The retailer expects to open more than 100 stores in FY24.
WHSmith chief executive Carl Cowling said: “This has been another year of significant progress for the Group. Our global travel business is growing in all our key markets. It is highly scalable with multiple medium- and long-term growth opportunities and we are seeing great results from sharing our expertise and innovation across our different geographies.
“Our North American business is benefitting from our forensic approach to space management, which has always been a key feature of our UK Travel operations. In the same way, the ability of our North American business to provide bespoke retail formats is now being successfully harnessed outside of the US.
“WHSmith is a highly cash generative business. In 2024, we expect to invest a further £140m, which will drive further growth and at the same time we expect our leverage to fall within our target range.”
