WH Smith PLC

DB:21Q Stock Report

Market Cap: €1.8b

WH Smith Past Earnings Performance

Past criteria checks 1/6

WH Smith has been growing earnings at an average annual rate of 31.1%, while the Specialty Retail industry saw earnings growing at 11.5% annually. Revenues have been growing at an average rate of 12.6% per year. WH Smith's return on equity is 17.3%, and it has net margins of 3.5%.

Key information

31.1%

Earnings growth rate

28.4%

EPS growth rate

Specialty Retail Industry Growth4.1%
Revenue growth rate12.6%
Return on equity17.3%
Net Margin3.5%
Next Earnings Update16 Apr 2025

Recent past performance updates

Recent updates

Revenue & Expenses Breakdown

How WH Smith makes and spends money. Based on latest reported earnings, on an LTM basis.

Earnings and Revenue History

DB:21Q Revenue, expenses and earnings (GBP Millions)
DateRevenueEarningsG+A ExpensesR&D Expenses
31 Aug 241,918671,0060
31 May 241,889669920
29 Feb 241,860649780
30 Nov 231,827729610
31 Aug 231,793799430
31 May 231,722739080
28 Feb 231,651678720
30 Nov 221,526578100
31 Aug 221,400477470
31 May 221,23766870
28 Feb 221,074-356270
30 Nov 21980-585920
31 Aug 21886-825570
31 May 21790-2017220
28 Feb 21694-3218870
30 Nov 20858-2807590
31 Aug 201,021-2396300
31 May 201,235-686600
29 Feb 201,4491026900
30 Nov 191,4231046910
31 Aug 191,3971066910
31 May 191,356996550
28 Feb 191,314926180
30 Nov 181,2881006180
31 Aug 181,2621086180
31 May 181,2481115590
28 Feb 181,2341144990
30 Nov 171,2341155470
31 Aug 171,2341165950
31 May 171,2281146340
28 Feb 171,2221116730
30 Nov 161,2171106260
31 Aug 161,2121085790
31 May 161,2061085690
29 Feb 161,2001075590
30 Nov 151,1891045590
31 Aug 151,1781015580
31 May 151,169995530
28 Feb 151,159965470
30 Nov 141,160945470
31 Aug 141,161925470
31 May 141,161895500
28 Feb 141,161855520

Quality Earnings: 21Q has a large one-off loss of £52.0M impacting its last 12 months of financial results to 31st August, 2024.

Growing Profit Margin: 21Q's current net profit margins (3.5%) are lower than last year (4.4%).

Free Cash Flow vs Earnings Analysis

Past Earnings Growth Analysis

Earnings Trend: 21Q's earnings have grown significantly by 31.1% per year over the past 5 years.

Accelerating Growth: 21Q's has had negative earnings growth over the past year, so it can't be compared to its 5-year average.

Earnings vs Industry: 21Q had negative earnings growth (-15.2%) over the past year, making it difficult to compare to the Specialty Retail industry average (59.1%).

Return on Equity

High ROE: 21Q's Return on Equity (17.3%) is considered low.

Return on Assets

Return on Capital Employed

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Company Analysis and Financial Data Status

DataLast Updated (UTC time)
Company Analysis2024/12/23 11:15
End of Day Share Price 2024/12/20 00:00
Earnings2024/08/31
Annual Earnings2024/08/31

Data Sources

The data used in our company analysis is from S&P Global Market Intelligence LLC. The following data is used in our analysis model to generate this report. Data is normalised which can introduce a delay from the source being available.

PackageDataTimeframeExample US Source *
Company Financials10 years
  • Income statement
  • Cash flow statement
  • Balance sheet
Analyst Consensus Estimates+3 years
  • Forecast financials
  • Analyst price targets
Market Prices30 years
  • Stock prices
  • Dividends, Splits and Actions
Ownership10 years
  • Top shareholders
  • Insider trading
Management10 years
  • Leadership team
  • Board of directors
Key Developments10 years
  • Company announcements

* example for US securities, for non-US equivalent regulatory forms and sources are used.

Unless specified all financial data is based on a yearly period but updated quarterly. This is known as Trailing Twelve Month (TTM) or Last Twelve Month (LTM) Data. Learn more here.

Analysis Model and Snowflake

Details of the analysis model used to generate this report is available on our Github page, we also have guides on how to use our reports and tutorials on Youtube.

Learn about the world class team who designed and built the Simply Wall St analysis model.

Industry and Sector Metrics

Our industry and section metrics are calculated every 6 hours by Simply Wall St, details of our process are available on .

Analyst Sources

WH Smith PLC is covered by 35 analysts. 11 of those analysts submitted the estimates of revenue or earnings used as inputs to our report. Analysts submissions are updated throughout the day.

AnalystInstitution
Richard TaylorBarclays
Benjamin Sandland-TaylorBerenberg
Ian MacdougallBlue Oar Securities