WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) reported healthy growth in revenue and more than doubled pre-tax profit in the first half, boosted by strong growth in its Travel business.
The retail and travel operator said revenue in the six months to 28 February 2023 rose 41% to £859mln from £608mln a year prior, while pre-tax climbed to £45mln from £18mln.
The company highlighted strong momentum across its Travel business with significant recovery in passenger numbers, strong average transaction value growth, successful category expansion and further space growth.
It expects Travel to represent over 70% of group revenue and around 85% of group profit from trading operations by the end of this financial year.
Carl Cowling, group chief executive, said: “Travel UK, our largest division, has delivered a strong first-half performance and has excellent growth prospects.”
“This performance has been driven by our category expansion, focus on average transaction value, the success of InMotion and our travel essentials one-stop-shop format,” he added.
WH Smith said total Travel trading profit in the period reached £47mln, a near five-fold increase on last year’s £10mln, while High Street trading profit edged lower to £24mln from £26mln.
Trading momentum has continued into the second half with a strong start made ahead of the peak Summer period.
“Current trading is strong and we are ahead of expectations for the full year," said Cowling.
WH Smith declared an interim payout of 8.1p per share which it said reflected strong current trading and confidence in future prospects.