WH Smith boss Stephen Clarke today hit back at critics who claim that the High Street stalwart’s business model of falling sales and rising profits is unsustainable.
“They’ve been saying that for years and years and I think they’re hoping that if they keep saying it they might finally be right,” he said.
Clarke’s comments came as the retailer revealed sales fell 2.2% to £1.16 billion with its High Street stores suffering a 5% drop and its travel stores flat on a like-for-like basis.
Profits in both divisions were up 4% to £58 million and 11% to £73 million respectively, sending shares up 3.7% to 1031p.
Meanwhile, computer game retailer Game Digital today said demand for the latest consoles — the Xbox One and Playstation 4 — meant bosses are confident sales will rise.
Chief executive Martyn Gibbs said: “Around 14.4 million people have an Xbox 360 or PS3 [older consoles] while just 1.8 million have an Xbox One or PS4, so there’s a long way to go.”
His comments came as the company revealed its first set of interim results since its flotation earlier this year.
Sales jumped 31% to £861.8 million in the six months to the end of July, with pre-tax profits hitting £7.3 million from a £15.4 million loss a year earlier. However, shares fell 1.4% to 278p.
