WH Smith (LON:SMWH) today hailed its new ‘Food to Go’ range as its travel business goes from strength to strength.
The book and stationery retailer continues to move its business away from the High Street, focussing on its in-station travel stores, which outperformed High Street stores in the 13 weeks to 30 May.
Over the period, travel sales were 8% higher while like-for-like sales rose 4%.
Smiths also noted its ‘Food to Go’ range, rolled-out last summer, has been “well received” by customers.
Meanwhile, it continues to scale back its High Street business with total sales 4% lower and like-for-like sales slipping 4% in the period.
The company, which has been focussed on improving profits rather than its top line, said it saw gross margin improvement in the period with its store opening strategy in the UK and abroad progressing well.
“We will continue to focus on profitable growth and cash generation while investing in new opportunities in both travel and High Street that position us well for the future” the company said.
In its half year report last month, the retailer said cutting costs was a ‘core part of our strategy’ and in today’s update, it reassured investors the cost savings are in line with those plans.