WH Smith Xmas numbers 'unlikely to make pretty reading' amid lockdowns
Trading figures from WH Smith are “unlikely to make pretty reading”, analysts have warned, as the venerable newsagent and bookseller reports on festive trading this week.
The firm plunged £226 million into the red in November as the pandemic forced the temporary closure of hundreds of stores and hammered its travel sites in airports and railway stations.
The retailer – one of Britain’s oldest, tracing its roots back to 1792 – lost £226m before tax at the bottom line in the 12 months to the end of August, compared with a £135m profit a year earlier. Underlying pre-tax losses were £69m, slightly less than analysts had been forecasting.
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