THE boss of WH Smith said yesterday that the retailer is “taking over in America.”
Despite being on the British high street for 231 years it will soon have more shops and bigger sales in US airports.
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The business, started by Henry Walton Smith as a newspaper shop in 1792, made a big bet on the US market in 2018 by taking over the InMotion and Marshalls airport shops.
The move looked a mistake when pandemic restrictions felled the travel industry and the shops closed.
By March 2020 WH Smith had lost half of its value and shares are yet to recover.
However, since lockdowns eased, WH Smith has beaten rivals in bidding for airport contracts.
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WH Smith will open a further 50 shops in North America over the next year, taking it to more than 400 stores, compared to 480 on UK high streets.
Trading profits from US travel shops are £52million — £10million more than from British high street shops.
Boss Carl Cowling has already ruled out opening any more UK high street shops and will only renew leases if there is “economic value”.
WH Smith yesterday posted a 74 per cent jump in pre-tax profits to £110million on the back of the travel industry’s recovery, while sales have grown 28 per cent to £1.7billion on new openings.
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Its travel shops have grown 43 per cent to £1.3billion, while UK high street sales slipped 1 per cent to £469million.
WH Smith is trying to sell more health and beauty products and food and drink which have higher margins than magazines.
Neil Shah, of Edison Group, said: “While customers turn to the internet for fast access to greeting cards and books, WH Smith’s continued success indicates that travellers do not operate under the same behaviour trends.”
B&M’S OPENING ACT
DISCOUNT retailer B&M Bargains has ramped up plans for more openings as the cost-of-living crisis drives shoppers to its stores.
After swooping on 51 stores from the bust Wilko chain, B&M said it now plans to have 1,200 shops within the next three years rather than its original ambition of 950.
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Boss Alex Russo said: “We expect to open no less than 125 stores over three years.”
B&M sales grew by 10.4 per cent to £2.5billion in the 26 weeks to September 23. Profits also rose to £222million.
ROBO BOSS
A COLOMBIAN company has appointed the world’s first robot boss.
Mika, an AI-powered robot, is the new chief executive of rum business Dictador. She will find clients and choose artists for designs.
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Developed by Hanson Robotics, Mika claims to have the most extreme work schedule: “I don’t have weekends – I’m accessible 24/7, prepared to make strategic decisions and employ AI wizardry.”
A British company recently used AI to create a profile of a FTSE 100 boss, using existing information.
The white man, named Andrew, was deemed to be a Cambridge graduate and earn £4.2 million annually.
SLIM PILL PLANS
ASTRAZENECA is hoping to cash in on the boom in demand for weight-loss drugs with a £1.6billion deal to develop an obesity pill.
The British drug maker yesterday announced that it had signed an agreement with a Chinese company, Eccogene.
Weight-loss drugs currently on the market are injected.
AstraZeneca chief Pascal Soriot said the development of the diabetes and obesity pill would “take a few years” but had “enormous” potential.
The news came on the same day the drug giant raised profit forecasts on the back of higher sales of its cancer medicines.
THE fall of office sharing firm WeWork led owners Sotfbank to a £5billion loss.
Their £13billion investment was judged one of the worst in history. Once valued at £38billion, WeWork filed for bankruptcy protection with £14.6billion debt.
MORTGAGE WOE
THE number of homeowners falling behind on their mortgage payments has risen.
New figures show that at least 87,930 were in arrears during the last three months, a 7 per cent increase compared to the previous quarter, according to UK Finance.
This is partly due to more households renewing mortgages at a much higher rate than two years ago.
In the buy-to-let sector there is a 29 per cent increase in owners falling into arrears.
Separate figures from the Ministry of Justice show a rise in house repossession claims and home evictions.
SHELL IN £1.7M ECO BILL WAR
SHELL is suing Greenpeace for £1.7million over a North Sea fossil fuel protest.
Greenpeace said it was the largest legal claim it had ever faced in 50 years of its environmental campaigns.
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The oil giant’s move follows six Greenpeace activists occupying a moving platform off the Canary Islands for 13 days in January.
Shell says lives, including those of protestors, had been put at risk and it faced extra costs by putting a safety vessel in place and raising security.
The move comes as new Shell boss, Wael Sawan, ramps up the focus on fossil fuels — rather than a shift to green renewables — in his strategy to boost shareholder returns.
Shell, which made a record £32.6billion profits, said: “This is simply about preventing activities at sea or in port which could endanger lives.”
Greenpeace UK accused Shell of “trying to crush” its ability to campaign.
PICK UP A DOMINO’S
BRITS ordering a Domino’s pizza are saving money by collecting it themselves rather than having it delivered.
Despite people cutting back on takeaways, orders have risen 3.7 per cent to £363.7million in the last three months.
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Domino’s said that collection orders had grown 8.4 per cent while delivery orders had fallen 6.3 per cent.
The business has signed trials with JustEat and Uber Eats in a bid to boost customer numbers.
