Analyst Views: Were WH Smith’s results in line with your expectations?
RICHARD CHAMBERLAIN BANK OF AMERICA
“WH Smith has reported a profit before tax of £108m for the year to 31 August in line with our estimate and slightly ahead of consensus of £107m. Earnings per share was up 15 per cent and the final dividend of 21.3p was also up 15 per cent, giving a total dividend for the year of 30.7p, slightly ahead of our 30.5p estimate.
FREDDIE GEORGE CANTOR
“We believe the company is entering an interesting development period with its international expansion, which could potentially become a sizeable income stream. In the meantime we view WH Smith as a sustainable long term double digit earnings per share growth story.
NICK BUBB INDEPENDENT
“The City wasn’t expecting WH Smith’s new boss Steve Clarke to announce any big change in the strategy of the business and there are, indeed, no surprises. The message is that there is no need to change something that it is still delivering the goods, with the profit outcome a tad ahead of expectations.