WH Smith stock down, high street under pressure

Investing.com -- Shares of WH Smith (LON:SMWH ) fell on Thursday following its FY24 results, which flagged ongoing investments in its Funky Pigeon online greetings card business, impacting the performance of its high street division.

At 4:35 am (0935 GMT), WH Smith was trading 4.8% lower at £1,238.

While WH Smith's Travel business delivered robust results with sales and EBIT in line or slightly above expectations, the high street segment faces challenges that are affecting overall investor sentiment.

“We make small adjustments to our forecasts overall, with FY25 PBT +1.5% to £175.2m (previously £172.6m), and raise FY26 PBT by 1.1% to £185.1m (previously £183.1m),” said analysts at Barclays (LON:BARC ) in a note.

The Funky Pigeon investment, aimed at strengthening WH Smith's digital presence in an increasingly competitive online retail landscape, has resulted in higher costs, which are expected to persist into the coming year. 

This continued expenditure signals a near-term pressure on high street profitability, tempering the positive growth story WH Smith is building in the Travel sector. 

RBC Capital Markets highlighted that WH Smith's Travel division remains well-positioned with a strong pipeline of new store openings, particularly in North America, but noted that the gains from these expansions may be offset by the sluggish performance on the high street. 

“For FY25, reflecting the trends from H2 24, we have upgraded our UKTravel EBIT forecast by £4.6m, whereas we lower our North America EBIT by c£1m. We also lower our UK High Street EBIT by c£1m,” Barclays said.

Source: Investing.com