WH Smith Completes Shift to Pure-Play Travel Retail as Profits Ease and FCA Probe Begins

The latest announcement is out from WH Smith ( (GB:SMWH) ).

WH Smith reported a 5% rise in group revenue to £1.55bn for the year to 31 August 2025 as it completed its transformation into a pure-play travel retailer, but headline pre-tax profit from continuing operations slipped to £108m and trading profits softened, with North America under pressure. The company outlined a more tightly focused strategy by region, including reinforcing its UK travel-essentials leadership while scaling health and beauty and food-to-go, exiting unprofitable fashion and speciality stores in its North American Resorts business and reviewing the InMotion portfolio, and concentrating Rest-of-the-World expansion on core markets and franchise-led growth. Current trading shows modest like-for-like revenue growth of 3% and the group is guiding to FY26 headline profit before tax of £100m–£115m and total revenue growth of 4–6%, while implementing a remediation plan following a Deloitte review and facing a newly opened FCA investigation, developments that put governance and controls under scrutiny even as management argues the streamlined travel-focused model positions the business for sustainable, profitable growth. The board proposes a final dividend of 6.0p, maintaining its reset dividend policy at 2.5 times cover on continuing earnings, signalling a commitment to shareholder returns despite the operational reset and regulatory challenges.

The most recent analyst rating on (GB:SMWH) stock is a Buy with a £800.00 price target. To see the full list of analyst forecasts on WH Smith stock, see the GB:SMWH Stock Forecast page.

Spark’s Take on GB:SMWH Stock

According to Spark, TipRanks’ AI Analyst, GB:SMWH is a Neutral.

WH Smith’s overall stock score is primarily influenced by its strong financial performance, which is offset by bearish technical indicators and a high valuation. The company’s high leverage and potential overvaluation are significant risks, while the lack of recent earnings call data and corporate events limits additional insights.

To see Spark’s full report on GB:SMWH stock, click here.

More about WH Smith

WH Smith is a global travel retailer specialising in travel essentials, health and beauty, and food-to-go, operating stores in high-footfall transport hubs such as airports and rail stations across the UK, North America and international markets. Following the sale of its UK High Street and funkypigeon.com businesses, the group is now fully focused on travel retail, where it holds leading category positions and is pursuing capital-efficient growth, particularly through core travel formats and selected franchise partnerships overseas.

Average Trading Volume: 579,602

Technical Sentiment Signal: Sell

Current Market Cap: £830.2M

For a thorough assessment of SMWH stock, go to TipRanks’ Stock Analysis page.