// WHSmith high street sales remain below pre-pandemic levels
// Revenues in its travel division in September were only at 73% of 2019 levels
WHSmith store sales remain below pre-pandemic levels while sales at travel locations including airports and railway stations fell in December due to the Omicron variant.
High street stores have seen improvements compared with 2019 levels, although these fell in the first two weeks of January.
The company revealed that revenues in its travel division in September were only at 73% of 2019 levels, rising to a high of 94% in November before dropping back to 83% in December and the first two weeks of January.
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“Looking ahead, although we are seeing a small impact from the Omicron variant, we anticipate a resumption in the recovery of our travel markets over the coming months,” WHSmith chief executive Carl Cowling said.
“We are well placed for the key trading period in travel this summer and the ongoing recovery in our markets.”
Split out by location, WHSmith’s hospital sites performed the strongest, while at its air and rail sites recovery was affected by the spread of the Omicron variant.
Airport stores were trading at just 42% of 2019 levels in September, rising to 71% by November, then falling to just 58% at the start of January.
Rail saw sales at 74% of 2019 levels in October and November, before falling back to just 69% in December.
WHSmith opened 16 new InMotion tech stores in airports including Heathrow, Manchester and Edinburgh with 14 new sites due in time for the summer holidays.
A pharmacy format was also opened at Euston station in London.
Meanwhile, WHSmith’s high street sales hit 90% of 2019 revenues in December – beating sales figures in September, October and November.
However, this fell back to 87% in the first two weeks of January.
The company said its online businesses “performed strongly” and the Christmas period ended “with a clean stock position”.
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