WH Smith (LON:SMWH) Releases Earnings Results

WH Smith (LON:SMWH) posted its earnings results on Thursday. The company reported GBX (20) earnings per share for the quarter, Digital Look Earnings reports. WH Smith had a negative net margin of 9.27% and a negative return on equity of 62.07%. The company had revenue of £748 million during the quarter.

Here are the key takeaways from WH Smith’s conference call:

• The company highlighted clear operational progress—85% of U.K. airport concessions renewed and new flagship “one‑stop‑shop” stores (notably Heathrow T5) plus strong momentum in North America travel‑essentials (now >55% of NA revenue), which management sees as the primary growth engine.
• Management suspended the dividend to prioritise balance‑sheet repair, citing headline net debt of GBP 496m (rolling 12‑month leverage ~2.9x) and an explicit target to materially reduce leverage before returning cash to shareholders.
• Financial performance remains constrained: H1 headline profit before tax was GBP 3m (EBITDA GBP 48m), and FY26 guidance is cautious (underlying PBT GBP 90m–105m) due to inflation, U.K. store disruption and uncertainty from the Middle East conflict.
• Margin and cash are under pressure from inflationary labour, freight and logistics costs, plus remediation/non‑underlying items (cash non‑underlying ~GBP 32m H1 with an expected further ~GBP 10–15m in H2 and additional largely non‑cash impairments), which will weigh on near‑term free cash flow.

WH Smith Stock Performance

LON:SMWH traded down GBX 28.50 during trading on Thursday, reaching GBX 600. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,794,353 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,702,963. WH Smith has a 12 month low of GBX 519 and a 12 month high of GBX 1,132. The firm has a market cap of £748.17 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.00. The firm has a 50 day moving average of GBX 609.10 and a 200-day moving average of GBX 641.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 872.78, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.39.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Max Izzard bought 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 29th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of GBX 675 per share, for a total transaction of £168,750. Corporate insiders own 1.03% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

SMWH has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Berenberg Bank lowered their price target on WH Smith from GBX 700 to GBX 667 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, January 19th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on shares of WH Smith from GBX 675 to GBX 650 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 13th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of GBX 832.17.

About WH Smith

WH Smith PLC operates as a retailer in the United Kingdom and internationally. It operates in two segments, Travel and High Street. The Travel segment offers news, books, and convenience for travelling customers. It operates stores in airports, hospitals, railway stations, and motorway service areas. The High Street segment sells stationery products, including greeting cards, general stationery, art and craft, and gifting products; news and impulse products, such as newspapers, magazines, confectionery, and drinks; and books.