National Contract Awards - Frontline and Seymour

Smiths News PLC

17 July 2026

 

17 July 2026

This announcement contains inside information

Smiths News PLC

("Smiths News" or the "Company")

Frontline Limited and Seymour Distribution Limited - National Contract Awards

Smiths News (LSE: SNWS), the UK's largest news wholesaler and a leading provider of early morning end-to-end supply chain solutions, is pleased to announce that it has successfully secured new long-term contracts with each of Frontline Limited ("Frontline") (the UK's largest magazine distributor) and Seymour Distribution Limited ("Seymour") (part of the Frontline Group and the UK's largest independent magazine distributor).

The agreements with Frontline and Seymour (the "Contracts") include an expansion of the distribution territories in which the Company is appointed as the exclusive national wholesale distributor for Frontline and Seymour titles across all of Great Britain (effective from April 2030) and an extension in the contract term of the Company's appointment through to April 2037. The expansion and extension provide Smiths News with long-term visibility over volumes as well as improved commercial certainty.

The Contracts together are expected to represent an incremental uplift in Smiths News' revenue of c.£105m per annum across the expanded territories of Great Britain from April 2030. Combined, the Frontline and Seymour portfolios account for over 60% of the UK magazine market.

The Contracts come in addition to both the News UK contract and the Associated Newspapers contract awards announced in June 2026.  Taking all four contract awards together, Smiths News has now successfully secured a substantial long-term volume base of the national newspapers and magazines market.

As previously announced, key to delivery of all four contracts secured to date will be the establishment of an expanded national footprint.  Guidance around the implementation costs, early-life transition costs, benefits of network expansion, as well as dividend and financing arrangements, remains unchanged from our announcement on 17 June 2026.  The Board expects to provide further guidance on the financial effects of all contracts in due course and, in any case, at the time of its preliminary financial results on 4 November 2026.

Jonathan Bunting, Chief Executive Officer of Smiths News, commented:

"We are delighted to announce our new contracts with both Frontline and Seymour, further reinforcing our long-term partnership with publishers and distributors, which ultimately maintains great service for millions of consumers across the UK.

The new contracts continue to reinforce the importance of the printed magazine market which our business model has successfully evolved to support, building a sustainable, efficient and resilient route to market for the magazine category, while maintaining service continuity for publishers and retailers."

For further information, please contact:

Smiths News PLC Jonathan Bunting, Chief Executive Officer Richard Clay, Chief Financial Officer www.smithsnews.co.uk	via Vigo Consulting
Vigo Consulting Jeremy Garcia / Fiona Hetherington [e-mail]	Tel: [phone]

About Smiths News

Smiths News is the UK's largest news and magazine wholesaler and leading provider of early morning, end-to-end supply chain solutions. Smiths News has been delivering newspapers to retailers across the UK for over 200 years on behalf of the major national and regional publishers. Today, Smiths News delivers to over 22,000 customers across England and Wales on a daily basis.

Smiths News's service capability now extends into a number of new verticals that build on its expertise in warehousing, reverse logistics and early morning final mile services, across its extensive high-density UK delivery network, including a waste recycling collection service, the delivery of additional categories such as books and home entertainment, and extending our services in the final mile.

The speed of turnaround and the density of Smiths News' coverage is critical to one of the world's fastest physical supply chains and we remain focused on continuing to deliver best in class service to the newspapers and magazines market, whilst exploring opportunities for growth based on this strong foundation.

For more information, please visit: www.smithsnews.co.uk

Person responsible for arranging release of this announcement:

Stuart Marriner, General Counsel & Company Secretary

Smiths News plc, Rowan House, Cherry Orchard North, Kembrey Park, Swindon SN2 8UH

Email: [e-mail]

 

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