WH Smith has expressed confidence ahead of the peak summer holiday season, saying robust sales at its travel locations helped to balance out slower activity on the high street.
For the 13 weeks to June 1, the retailer reported a like-for-like sales increase of 4%, driven by a 5% uplift in its global travel stores and a slight 1% decline in its high street division.
However, this represents a deceleration from the impressive 15% sales growth recorded in the first half of the year at its travel outlets in railway stations, airports, and hospitals around the world.
The Swindon-based company is now facing tougher comparisons with the previous year when its performance was bolstered by the resurgence of global travel post-pandemic.
Despite an overall downturn in sales for its UK high street operations, including online, WH Smith noted that its physical stores “performed well”, maintaining steady like-for-like revenue throughout the third quarter.
The retailer also highlighted the expansion of its partnership with Toys R Us, announcing the upcoming launch of additional ‘shop-in-shops’ within its premises over the summer months.
So far, five Toys R Us shop-in-shops have been opened in WH Smith stores, with plans to inaugurate another 25 by the end of August.
WH Smith said: “The group is well positioned as we enter our peak summer trading period.”
It added: “Good trading momentum continues across all three travel divisions and we are in a strong position to capitalise on substantial growth opportunities across our markets.”
WH Smith said its strategy to position itself as a “one-stop-shop” for travel essentials is proving successful, with UK travel site sales increasing by 8% on a comparable store basis. This includes an 8% rise in airport sales, a notable 14% growth in hospitals, and an 8% increase in railway station outlets.
While like-for-like travel sales across the North American operations remained steady, the rest of the world division saw a 7% uptick. However, when adjusting for currency fluctuations, total sales actually saw a boost of 5% and 16% in these segments, respectively.