ANALYST VIEWS: WILL WH SMITH’S COMEBACK LAST?
KATE CALVERT | SHORE CAPITAL
“We believe WH Smith’s valuation suffers from too much investor focus on the lack of top-line sales growth in its high street business.
It overlooks. the group’s strong cash generation and how management is turning the group back into a growth story through its travel division.”
KEITH BOWMAN | HARGREAVES LANSDOWN
“The figures are really pretty good. The company may have had problems with fewer air passengers, but management has reassured on this. On the whole this is an impressive performance and WH Smith is doing well. It seems to be going in the right direction and we would see it as being in good shape.”
PETER SMEDLEY | CHARLES STANLEY
“In line first-half results highlight the well-known business strengths: profits of £62m were in line with expectations, but there was a nice, albeit small surprise on the dividend which increased by 13 per cent versus expectations of 10 per cent.”