WHSmith to return £90m to investors

WHSmith chief executive Kate Swann said at yesterday's EGM that£60 million would be paid out through a special dividend of 33p a share, with a further£30 million returned to investors in share buy-backs.

She said the cash return reflected the group’s confidence in its business for the future, although trading showed like-for-like high street sales slid 3 per cent in the 21 weeks to January 26.

Like-for-likes at its travel outlets in railway stations and airports were up 1 per cent in the period.

Swann said: “While the environment is tough, we tend to be less impacted than other retailers as our transaction value is less than£5. We are not immune to a slowdown, but while people may cut back on buying a fridge, they will still buy a newspaper.”

She said that more than 20 travel outlets would open at motorway service stations this year and that WHSmith would continue to roll out more shops in Post Office branches.