WH Smith PLC on Wednesday said its Travel arm has seen an upturn in fortunes, despite a small hit from the Omicron variant of Covid-19 in the recent half-year.

WH Smith shares were 5.0% lower at 1,435.50 pence each in London on Wednesday morning.

The books and stationery retailer said it has ‘successfully navigated’ through the pandemic.

‘The group has delivered a good performance with a strong rebound in profitability. We have seen a recovery across all our travel markets despite the impact of the Omicron variant in Q2, and we are in a strong position to capture growth as the recovery continues,’ Chief Executive Carl Cowling commented.

Revenue in six months ended February 28 rose 44% to £608 million from £420 million a year prior. WH Smith swung to a pretax profit of £18 million from a £38 million loss.

The Travel unit, which includes outlets in airports, train stations, hospitals and motorway service stations, was profitable again. Trading profit in the division amounted to £15 million, swinging from a £31 million loss.

‘Across the globe, we continue to roll out our Travel stores across all our formats. Since the start of the financial year, we have won 74 stores, including a significant tender win in Spain, bringing the total pipeline to over 125 stores. We expect more space to become available, particularly in North America, as our markets continue to recover,’ Cowling added.

High street trading profit inched up to £35 million from £33 million a year prior.

Cowling said: ‘Our High Street business delivered a resilient and profitable performance in the period, despite the challenges facing the UK high street. During the period, our online businesses continued to perform well against a strong pandemic-related performance in the prior year.

‘Looking ahead, we continue to invest in the business where we see attractive growth opportunities and have positioned the group well to benefit from the return of passenger numbers. We have improved the scale and footprint of the business and are operationally stronger than prior to the pandemic. While there are some uncertainties in the broader global economy, the group is well positioned to capitalise on the ongoing recovery in our key markets and take advantage of the many opportunities ahead.’

WH Smith’s ‘low ticket-value categories and strong supplier relationships’ mean it can manage inflationary pressure, the firm added.

The company did not declare an interim dividend, unchanged from a year prior, though re-establishing a payout is one of its ‘capital allocation’ priorities.

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