A WHSmith blended retail store at London Heathrow Terminal 2.

UK-based travel retailer WHSmith has revealed sales of £748m/$1,007m in the half-year 2026 (to 28 February), up by +5% on a constant currency basis. However, the group’s H1 headline trading profit of £32m was down -32%% from £47m in the same period last year, while profit before tax and non-underlying items was down -86% to £3m from £21m.

Across the company’s three geographical regions, the UK grew by +2%, North America by +10%, and Rest of the World and Other by +8%, generating £392m, £204m, and £152m, respectively (see chart).

Conditions have not improved since the end of February. In the first seven weeks of H2 2026 trading, group like-for-like (LFL) revenue slowed to +2%. By geographic division, the UK delivered flat LFL revenue growth, reflecting a softening of the airport channel following disruption to flights to the Middle East. In North America, LFL growth fell to +2%, though the core ‘travel essentials’ business saw better LFL growth of +6%. The Rest of the World delivered LFL growth of +5%.

H1 2026 hit by store development

WHSmith H1 2026 revenue and % change by geographic division.

Within the UK, the airports business in H1 only grew by 1%, which the company says “reflects the expected trading disruption resulting from the division’s largest ever store development programme”. Since the beginning of the financial year, six one‑stop shops have opened ahead of the summer, including refurbished stores at Heathrow, Liverpool, Belfast, and East Midlands airports.

Over the past four weeks, WHSmith has opened three flagship stores at Heathrow’s terminals 3, 4 and 5. Each location showcases the full breadth of the company’s travel essentials proposition, including a health and beauty offer and in-store pharmacies. These new-format stores broaden the offer to customers and “will improve convenience and basket size, setting a new global benchmark for ‘travel essentials’, claims the company.

In North America, airports performed very well in H1, up by 15% at constant currency. However, the resorts stream contracted by -6% due to a continued reduction in visitors to Las Vegas. The trend has continued in the first seven weeks of H2 with resorts down -8%. WHSmith has begun a controlled exit of fashion stores and is reducing the number of speciality stores in the resorts stream. The North America division currently operates from 282 stores in airports (including 120 InMotion stores), and 80 stores across its resorts and rail streams.

At the headline trading profit level, the Rest of the World became loss-making in H1 2026, despite delivering total revenue growth of +8% (constant currency) and +6% LFL. The £4m loss after a profit of £2m in the same period a year earlier, reflects what WHSmith called “a challenging performance in some locations and the inflationary pressures on staff and logistics costs”.

These locations are part of a review of the division taking place now, while further investment will go into markets where the company has already scaled and has expertise. These include Ireland, Spain, and Australia to help strengthen profitability.

WHSmith makes profitable growth a priority

In a statement about the company as a whole, Leo Quinn, Executive Chair at WHSmith, said: “The immediate focus is to restore confidence and ensure the right foundations are in place to support profitable growth and long‑term value creation. Moving forward, the board and management team will have a relentless focus on driving cash, cost discipline and strengthening the balance sheet. As a first step, the board has taken the prudent decision to suspend the dividend.”

For the rest of the year, the company stated: “In light of the uncertainty arising from the conflict in the Middle East, the group is taking a more cautious outlook reflecting the impact on passenger numbers and weaker consumer confidence. At this stage, the group expects to deliver FY26 headline group profit before tax and non-underlying items of £90m – £105m ($121m – $141m).”

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