Loading…
Loading…
UBS has cut its price target on WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH), to 480p from 600p, after the retailer's profit downgrade and proposed equity raise, which the Swiss bank says has pushed attention firmly onto the North American recovery. The broker is sticking with a Neutral rating, so hasn't gone completely bearish on the shares, given that the revised target still implies around 17% upside from the 410p price cited in its note.
Shares fell 17% after the retailer launched a capital raising to boost its balance sheet following a downturn in conditions due to the Middle East war.
WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) has issued a profit warning and launched a cash call to bolster its balance sheet after weaker travel demand and pressure on margins hit trading before the key summer period. The travel retailer said revenue rose 5% in the 14 weeks to June 6, with like-for-like sales up 2%, before growth slowed in recent weeks.
WH Smith PLC's (LSE:SMWH) sharp share price fall reflects more than just a weak first half, with analysts seeing the trading update as raising questions about the group's reliance on a strong summer rebound. The airports- and railway station-based chain reported a sharp fall in profit before tax, 85% below last year and short of consensus forecasts, with trading profit also falling as cost pressures and disruption weighed on margins.
Shares in WH Smith PLC (LSE:SMWH) fell 13.4% to 544.5p after the airports and railway stations retailer reported a sharp drop in profits and suspended its dividend, despite higher revenues in the first half. Headline profit before tax plunged 85% to £3 million, down from £21 million a year earlier, as revenue swelled 5% to £748 million, driven by stronger performance in North America and other international markets.
The travel retailer's first half was exactly what it needed to be. The question now is whether geopolitics will complicate the second.
Travel retailer WH Smith reported a 5% rise in first-half revenue on Thursday, helped by double-digit growth in North America, and said it was on track to meet its full-year targets.
Investors seemed pleased with WH Smith PLC's (LSE:SMWH) appointment of Leo Quinn, former boss of Balfour Beatty and Qinetiq, as its new executive chairman. Quinn, who led the construction group through a decade's transformation from 2015, will start in April, replacing Annette Court when she steps down as chair and non-executive director at the end of the annual meeting on 2 February.
No recent filings indexed.