WH Smith commits to Cork, Dublin and Shannon airport shops despite Covid damage

WH Smith made a £10m loss across its UK high street stores, and a £33m loss in its travel store business

WH Smith said it is still committed to its shops at Cork, Dublin and Shannon airports despite the heavy impact inflicted by the Covid restrictions on air travel

WH Smith, the British newsagent and stationery retailer, is understood to be fully committed to its shops in Cork, Dublin and Shannon airports despite Covid restrictions wiping out virtually all income and revenue from them this year and there being no long-term visibility on recovery.

The group reported a full-year pre-tax loss of £69m (€77.5m) for the 12 months to the end of August, compared to a profit of £155m for the previous year.

WH Smith said it made a £10m loss across its UK high street stores, and a £33m loss in its travel store business, which covers all of its airport and railway/bus station-based shops.

The company said it is burning through around £20m this month, but that it also has a “robust” balance sheet with cash on deposit of £83m and undrawn credit facilities of £320m.

It said it continues to focus on further growth opportunities and has seen “encouraging signs of recovery” in North America where it continues to open new stores and win new business.

In August, WH Smith announced plans to cut up to 1,500 jobs due to a slow recovery from the initial Covid lockdown.

"We have a robust plan across all our businesses focusing on cost management and initiatives within our control which support us in the immediate term," said group CEO Carl Cowling.