The story at newsagents at WH Smith Plc (LON:SMWH) has long been one of increased emphasis on outlets in travel hUBS.
The Travel business now accounts for almost two thirds of the group's annual profit so the focus in Thursday's interims will likely be on that side of the retail estate, especially with the retailer having already reported on the Christmas trading season.
In the first 20 weeks of the current financial year, sales were flat year-on-year with like-for-like (LFL) sales down 1%.
The snowfall that hit parts of the UK in the first quarter is likely to have flattened those figures some more, but offsetting that is increased international opportunities for the Travel business
“The international travel division accounted for 17% of Travel revenues and 9% of profit in the last full financial year and posted LFL growth of 6%.
“Sales are flying in travel, but a few seasonal challenges in high street,” was the telegram-like assessment of Barclays after January's trading update.
“The main downside risks are a downturn in passenger travel or that High Street cost and gross margin opportunities are insufficient to offset weakness in the printed news categories,” Barclays suggested.
Hays set to see slowdown in third quarter
Like its peer PageGroup PLC (LON:PAGE), growth in international markets has also helped Hays plc (LON:HAS) to contend with a slowdown in UK hiring.
The firm posted a 16% increase in first half operating profit and a 13% rise in net fee income as growth in overseas markets offset a subdued performance in the UK.
The recruiter reports a third quarter trading update on Thursday and UBS expects growth in like-for-like net fees to slow to 9% from 13% in the second quarter.
The company’s performance is once again likely to be led by international markets with UBS predicting a 13% increase in like-for-like net fees for Continental Europe and the rest of the world, boosted by strong momentum in Germany.
UBS also sees double-digit growth in the Asia Pacific region, driven by Australia.
In the UK, UBS estimates like-for-like net fees will be flat, compared to a 1% increase in the second quarter.
“We expect the results should underpin consensus EBITA forecasts at £238mln,” UBS said.
Saga ongoing
Full year results from under-pressure over 50’s travel and insurance provider Saga PLC (LON:SAGA), also due on Thursday, are expected to show underlying profit before tax growth of between 1% and 2%.
That’s well behind last year’s 5.6% growth, reflecting tougher conditions in motor insurance broking, and the impact of the collapse of Monarch airlines which has cost Saga’s Travel business £2mln.
Short-term headwinds aside, the bigger concern is that Saga has struggled to keep customer numbers growing lately.
Management are forking out an extra £10mln a year on customer acquisition to try and reverse that trend from this year onwards and any signs of early progress will be closely watched.
Thursday April 12:
Trading update: Hays plc (LON:HAS)
Interims: WH Smith Plc (LON:SMWH)
Finals: Central Asia Metals PLC (LON:CAML), Destiny Pharma plc (LON:DEST), Saga PLC (LON:SAGA)
Ex-dividends: To knock 4.27 points off FTSE 100 index - ITV plc (LON:ITV), Paddy Power Betfair plc (LON:PPB), Reckitt Benckiser PLC (LON:RB.), Rentokil Initial PLC (LON:RTO), Smurfit Kappa Group PLC (LON:SKG)
Economic data: US weekly jobless claims; US import, export prices