Published 25th Apr 2024, 16:45 BST

Chief executive Carl Cowling said the business was in its "strongest ever position as a global travel retailer", with the UK travel business increasing its trading profit by nearly a fifth.

Total group revenues were eight per cent higher in the six months to the end of February, compared with the previous year.

The retailer said it was benefiting from an increase in consumers travelling, particularly in large stores at London Heathrow, London Gatwick and a new flagship store at Birmingham airport.

WH Smith is plotting more store openings across train stations, airports and hospitals. Chief executive Carl Cowling says the business is in its "strongest ever position as a global travel retailer", with the UK travel business increasing its trading profit by nearly a fifth. Picture: Philip Toscano/PA Wire

The travel format had resulted in an increase in the amount that the average customer spends in its shops, it said.

Sales for the division since March had also lifted nine per cent compared with the same period last year.

"The transformation of our UK travel business from a news, books and convenience retailer to a one-stop-shop for travel essentials is progressing very well," WH Smith said.

This has included introducing new product categories such as tech accessories, food, and health and beauty, as well as trying to increase average spend such as through promotions and the layout of stores.

In November last year, it said it expects to invest around £140m throughout 2024.

It is still expecting to open around 110 new stores this financial year, including more than 50 in North America.

But it will close about 60 stores as part of efforts to focus on better-quality space, the group said.

"We have had a good first half and our businesses are well positioned for the peak summer trading period," Mr Cowling said.

Nevertheless, the group reported a headline pre-tax profit of £32m, down from £43m the previous year.

Stripping out the impact of one-off costs, its pre-tax profits edged up by two per cent year on year.

The profit figures may have come as a disappointment to shareholders, with shares in WH Smith down more than four per cent this morning.

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In June last year, the BBC reported that WH Smith has said it would not open any more UK high street stores, instead focussing on its travel divisions.

Around the same time, the company announced that it had struck a deal which would see retailer Toys R Us return to the UK high street, with concession stores opening in nine WH Smith branches.

Toys 'R' Us opened its first UK store in more than six years on June 10, 2023, in Monks Cross, York.

The retailer had appointed Moorfields Advisory to oversee an administration at the end of February 2018.

As one of the UK’s biggest toy retailers, it had employed more than 3,000 across 100 stores.

Its closure put a total of 3,200 jobs at risk company-wide, while nine stores shut in Yorkshire.

In 2022, Toys R Us relaunched its online store with a new website.

Following the re-launch, a statement read: “We are relaunching in the UK in 2022 as a brand new Toys R Us and Babies R Us.”

WH Smith says shift to being a "one-stop shop" for travel essentials is paying off