WH Smith has said trading over the past quarter has surpassed pre-pandemic levels from 2019 after a rebound in passenger numbers caused a “particularly strong performance” in its travel stores.
The Swindon-headquartered retailer said group sales were at 107% of pre-pandemic levels over the 15 weeks to June 11, with travel sales at 123% of the performance over the same period in 2019.
It hailed a particularly strong performance across airport stores amid a sharp increase in holidaymakers travelling internationally.
In a statement, WH Smith said: “While the broader global economy remains uncertain, the group is well positioned to capitalise on the ongoing recovery in our key markets and take advantage of the many opportunities ahead, including the 125 new stores won and yet to open, and our new store formats and category development across multiple geographies.
“Travel continues to perform strongly across all three divisions and we expect this to be maintained into the peak summer trading period.
“As a result, we now anticipate the full year outturn to be at the higher end of analysts’ expectations.”
The trading update showed revenue from WH Smith’s high street shops had not returned to pre-pandemic levels, and was at 79% in Q3 compared to 2019. This was down from 87% in Q1 and 84% in Q2.
The group also reported recovery in its international markets, with its North America business continuing to show “strong momentum” with total revenue during the 15 week period at 111% of 2019 levels.
During the period WH Smith said it had won further stores to its international portfolio of almost 600 travel stores, including four at Chicago O’Hare airport.
It added that the first two stores from a recent tender win in Spain had now opened and were trading well. Bosses said they anticipated further 20 of a planned 31 in the the country would be opened in time for its peak summer trading period this year.
The figures follow a recently published set of interim results, which saw the firm return to profit after overcoming the challenges of the Omicron variant of Covid.
Before tax, profit was £18m in the six months to the end of February, compared with a £38m loss in the same period a year ago.
The company previously said in November it was well positioned to return to "meaningful profit" in 2022.
WH Smith recently named former Direct Line boss Annette Court as its new chair, replacing Henry Staunton who is set to retire after nine years in the role.
Ms Court will join the board from insurer Admiral Group as a non-executive director and chair-designate on September 1, before succeeding Mr Staunton on December 1.
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