The full details of the retailer's performance will be announced on October 13. It said: 'As anticipated, trading conditions on the high street remained challenging during the second half of the year. Despite this, the profitability of our high street retail business continued to improve through both gross margin gains and tight cost control.'
WHSmith said its travel retail division is performing well and the news distribution business has made steady progress. The three-to five-year plan to deliver value back to shareholders through a share buy-back programme is also on track.
The retailer benefited from massive sales last month, when Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince, launched on July 16, brought WHSmith double-digit like-for-like sales for the week. At the time, Shore Capital forecast full-year profit before tax would be£73 million.
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