WH Smith who have a significant operation in Australia primarily at airports and educational institutions has reported a global 5% turnaround in their fortunes but are struggling to deliver profits and revenue increases in Australia.

What’s not known is how much of the 5% increase is down to price rises spanning consumer electronic goods which are widely sold at WH Smith stores.

In their latest financial Group revenue rose 5% year-on-year (unaudited), with like-for-like revenue up 2%.

The big problem is how little of that reached the bottom line.

Headline pre-tax profit is expected at £75m, against £110m the previous year.

The company had once forecast profit as high as £115m and has cut expectations step by step.

The company blamed lower trading margins caused by heavier promotions, reduced brand marketing and inflation.

Shares fell as much as 4.7% to 346p, their lowest since March 2009, and are down about 43% this year.

Their Rest of the World operation which includes Australia and New Zealand was a drag on reported revenue.

Q4 revenue fell 4% (6% at constant currency) as store closures continued, though like-for-like revenue rose 3%.

The group left Norway, agreed to leave Denmark and Sweden in early 2027, and will leave the Netherlands when its lease expires in 2027.

Management says the division is being actively managed to close unprofitable stores and move sub-scale markets to a franchise model.

WHSmith trading update anticipates revenue rises and profits to fall.

For scale, WH Smith’s APAC stores are in Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Fiji and Indonesia, with about 50 stores and more than 500 staff in Australia.

Group guidance earlier in the year also set a low bar for ROW with revenue growth of about 2–4% and a margin of about 4%.

Some analysts put WHSmith Australia’s revenue at $1.2bn which is questionable.

The full preliminary results are due on 12 November 2026.