WH Smith on target for £79m despite slip in sales

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The magazines, stamps and sweets group is regarded as one of the winners of the economic slump, with chief executive Kate Swann praised for her management of the business.

Today it said sales in the last 20 weeks were down 7% on the High Street as it succumbed to wider pressures. However, it reckons it will still hit City profits forecasts for the year of about £79 million, and has not had to make sweeping job cuts.

Swann said: "As anticipated, trading conditions on the High Street were challenging over the Christmas period. Looking ahead, we expect consumer spending in our markets to remain subdued and we have planned accordingly."

Smith's travel and air arms — shops at stations and airports — remain resilient despite weaker passenger numbers. Like-for-like sales at travel were down just 1% in the 20 weeks to 17 January, and the company has managed to improve margins.

It was hit by the collapse of Woolworths — it relied on Woolies' EUK arm to supply DVDs and CDs, and struggled to get stock into stores in the weeks leading to Christmas.

Swann said staff had no reason to be nervous about the future.

Nick Bubb at Pali International said: "They have a record of delivering — in fact, overdelivering."
The shares today fell 9p to 346p.