New chairwoman joins as retail group recovery continues, High Street stores up to 79% of 2019 level
There’s good news on the trading front for WHSmith’s newly-appointed chairwoman Annette Court as the 230-year-old retailer announced sales have already topped pre-pandemic revenue levels.
Following the group’s interim results six weeks ago, the trading update for the 15-week period to 11 June 2022, shows the business continues to benefit from the ongoing recovery across all its key travel markets.
Group revenue was ahead of 2019 levels for the first time at 107%, with a particularly strong performance from the Travel arm at 123%, while in its High Street stores total revenue was at 79% compared to the same period in 2019.
The announcement made yesterday, Wednesday, 15 June, explained: “This includes the impact from the cyber incident on Funky Pigeon. We saw a good performance from our Platinum Jubilee ranges which resonated well with customers, and our focus on front-of-store mega deals is delivering good results.”
WHSmith’s online greeting card division Funky Pigeon was hit by a cyber-attack in April which led to customers’ orders being cancelled and trading temporarily suspended.
The news that WHS’ “UK business is performing strongly” on the travel side as passenger numbers recover, comes after last week’s announcement that Annette is to join the company, which was founded in 1792, on 1 September and will become chairwoman on 1 December to replace Henry Staunton, who is retiring on 30 November after nine years as chairman.
Currently chairwoman of Admiral Group and a non-executive director of Sage Group, Annette was previously the chief executive of Europe General Insurance for Zurich Financial Services, ceo at Direct Line Group from 2001-2006, and a member of the RBS Group executive management committee.
Henry said: “It has been a privilege to serve as chairman of this very special company which celebrates its 230th anniversary this year. I wish Annette every success as she joins the board at a very exciting time for the company as it continues to recover following the pandemic.”
Simon Emeny, WHS senior independent director, said: “The company conducted a comprehensive search and Annette emerged as the outstanding candidate. She has a proven track record as a chair of a publicly-quoted company and brings a wealth of experience from her board appointments and has a strong background in financial services and technology.
“Annette’s appointment will enable a smooth transition from Henry who has led the company successfully throughout his tenure as chairman – he has successfully guided the company through an exceptional period of growth and helped it overcome the impact of the pandemic.”
While the broader global economy remains uncertain, the group announcement said it now anticipates the full-year results to be “at the higher end of analysts’ expectations” as it “is well positioned to capitalise on the ongoing recovery in our key markets and take advantage of the many opportunities ahead”.
Top: Travel boosted WHSmith’s revenue
