Big losses for the retailer this morning which following the disposal of UK high street operations is now very much focused on the travel sector. This morning’s publication of interim results flagged headline revenues up by 5% but weaker growth was seen in the UK following store refurbishments and inflationary headwinds. There’s also concern about how the ongoing situation in the Middle East may hamper performance, whilst the dividend has also been suspended to reinforce the company’s financial position. Against that uncertain backdrop, the WH Smiths share price was down 12% in early trade.
Full year results from the retailer J Sainsbury are out today. Despite core sales growing 5%, underlying profits were down 1% with cost inflation and investment in value both being cited as contributing. The conflict in the Gulf is also seen as taking a toll on the business going forward, although visibility on this is lacking, with management pitching FY27 profits to be between £975m and £1075m. The dividend has been increased moderately but this clearly didn’t cut much slack with investors and the Sainsbury’s share price was off 5% shortly after the open.
The AI solutions company with a market cap of over £300m published a half year trading update this morning, noting that good progress had been made over the six months to 31st March and adjusted pre-tax profits for the period are expected to be £24m, against a comparative of £18m. The full year outlook remains unchanged and the RWS share price was up 14% by 8.30am.
Most read news on Investegate this morning
Preliminary Results - - Sainsbury (J) (SBRY)
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