Retailer’s figures show Travel side boost after Funky Pigeon cyber attack affects High Street arm
Group revenue at WHSmith is “comfortably in excess of pre-Covid levels” despite the cyber attack on online greeting card arm Funkypigeon,com which “adversely impacted” its High Street sales.
With WHS’ Travel division achieving 129% of 2019 sales levels in the half year to 27 August, and High Street at 82%, it brought group levels to 112% overall, and WHS expects the outcome for the whole year to be in line with the upgraded expectations following the extremely strong third-quarter performance.
The figures were revealed on Wednesday, 7 September, as WHS enters its close period ahead of reporting preliminary results for the 12 months ending on 31 August 2022.
The pre-close update, released ahead of the full report due on 10 November, showed sales at the greetings, stationery, book and convenience retailer’s travel sites worldwide, which include stores at airports and rail stations, surged to 135% of 2019 levels in the 11-week period to 27 August.
It has secured more than 130 stores that are yet to open, including six new stores in Brussels airport, and stores in Salt Lake City and Los Angeles airports, with more tenders ongoing, and the business performed particularly well in the UK and North America, although the post-Covid recovery has been slower in stores across the rest of the world.
The report states: “Despite some ongoing disruption, our Travel businesses have continued to benefit from the recovery in passenger numbers across all our key travel markets. As passenger numbers continue to recover, we have delivered strong ATV growth and higher penetration, driven by our ongoing strategy to significantly enhance our ranges and develop our categories, such as health and beauty and technology.”
With regards to its High Street side, in which greeting cards sales feature prominently, the report stated it is performing “in line with expectations” though sales in the second half were “adversely impacted following the previously-announced disruption to our online greeting card business Funkypigeon.com”.
The report added: “In our High Street business, we continue to focus on cost efficiencies and the return on space. We have identified further significant cost saving opportunities, most notably through reductions in rent.”
Orders from Funkypigeon.com were suspended after the cyber attack in April although the company assured customers their payment data, including bank account or credit card details, had not been placed at risk.
Top: WHS is a mainstay of UK High Streets
