Wh Smith Share Discussion Threads

[m.t.glass] 02/2/2012 19:31

£2m share sell-off by chief executive has WH Smith sliding

Punters were rushing to follow Kate Swann to the checkout today after it was revealed that the WH Smith boss has cashed in more than £2 million of her shares.

The chief executive - who has been widely praised for her performance since taking charge of the High Street retailer back in 2003 - has sold more than 400,000 of her shares at 550.74p a pop, only a week after its latest trading update. The news prompted the chain to slump 11p to 548.5p, with some in the City suggesting Swann has proved rather adept at selling at the right time and is therefore worth following.



(Evening Standard)

[m.t.glass] 02/2/2012 16:26

Looks like closing on a low-of-the-day
- or very near it

[m.t.glass] 02/2/2012 10:31

So now the boss has sold 40% of her shares in one hefty dollop.. one week after assuring everyone that the decline in sales is not a problem.. If actions speak louder than words, that sounds like a mighty vote of No Confidence!

Longterm chart displaying a double top? If it turns out to be so, the floor (if it drops through 500) is around 452p?

EDIT: Her fellow director Neil Monnery (responsible for strategy) sold 49,000 two days ago. And fellow director Stephen Clarke sold 92,832 (40% of his holding) three days ago .


Just need Robert Moorhead (FD) to be selling, for investors to even more seriously take fright!

[contrarian2investor] 26/1/2012 21:16

I have opened the first phase of my short position in SMWH today. They have recently purchased 3.5 million shares for cancellation. This alongside cost cuttng are the primary reasons, keeping this stock at current levels. By the summer I fully expect the share price to be nearer to £5.00p rather than £6.00p.

[davydoo] 25/1/2012 20:19

Well i certainly didn't expect that at 7.30 this morning.

Interesting it didn't quite beat the previous high from last year.

Have kept my shorts open though.

[mj19] 25/1/2012 11:54

davy I agree this needs to go down... its way ahead of others ...

[davydoo] 25/1/2012 11:48

Thats one of the issues here, low liquidity, and the co itself a guaranteed buyer everyday.

To my mind the buybacks are coming at the expense of store and brand maintenance let alone growth or development or any other ideas to grow the business. The slightest downturn and they'd have to stop the buybacks, then wheres the buyers at this level?

There are huge cost pressures ahead. When you look at the accounts about the rent rises. Also the introduction of auto enrolment pensions which i haven't seen much about will add significant costs over the next few years. Also it seems increasingly likely that more and more staff are paid minimum wage, therefore they will have to increase pay as it increases, its not like a higher paid workforce where you can just freeze pay.

Maybe I'm a bit early here, but i can sit, wait and add.

[mj19] 25/1/2012 10:49

wow up loads on not alot

[davydoo] 25/1/2012 08:55

Appears so. Reminds me of carpetright, which held up for a long time in the face of mounting evidence to the contrary.

[jon827] 25/1/2012 08:14

it's teh Teflon stock innit :)

[davydoo] 25/1/2012 07:52

Update shows continued weakness, any profits must be coming from continued cost cutting as you can tell by the service and staff in store. Lets see what happens to the share price. I suspect they've overpaid for this weeks buy backs.

[johnwise] 23/1/2012 15:04

Comes with no surprise that stationer, newsagent and bookseller WH Smith is expected to reveal a further drop in sales on Wednesday. I stopped using them sometime ago, there was always a queue,with eight tills there would usually be only two tills open and 15/20 people waiting to pay. One day I mention this to the manager all I received was a shrug of his shoulders..Six months later WH Smith received the ultimate accolade the Which Magazine gave WH Smith shops first place for the worst customer service in the country.."Only a fool queues to spend money"
Almost everything WH Smith sells can be bought at a discount on the Internet

[davydoo] 18/1/2012 13:45

Christmas trading statement next Wednesday 25th which should be interesting.

[davydoo] 12/1/2012 16:24

Im amazed theres so little comment here for a large cap, high street name.

Ive gone short today. I think this is a terrible business, and i think spob's comment from October is spot on, what else is there left to squeeze out? and also squeeze in? when you think of all the concessions that now fill a typical store.

[adammcormack] 14/10/2011 16:14

Forgive me if this is an obvious question but I am only a novice.

With all the Share Repurchasing is this solely to reward and keep investors happy or is it an attempt to boost the share price during difficult trading times?

Thanks,
Adam

[spob] 13/10/2011 08:56

I do find WHS stores quite cluttered now.

It feels like they are trying to ram additional impulse purchases down your throat.

Especially whilst queuing and then at the checkout also.

[spob] 13/10/2011 08:22

Has Kate Swann squeezed this for all its got now ?

I mean even SMWH can't detach itself from the rapidly deteriorating economic conditions for much longer.

???????

[hyden] 13/10/2011 07:55

"The economic conditions remain challenging, however we have planned accordingly. We are a resilient business with a strong and consistent record of both profit growth and cash generation and have opportunities for growth in both the UK and internationally."

Good enough for me. :-)

[steven1404] 21/12/2010 17:52

at this rate there wont be any shares left for the pi

[spob] 11/11/2010 22:20

11 November 2010

WH Smith PLC

Interim Management Statement

WH Smith PLC is today publishing its Interim Management Statement as required by
the UK Listing Authority's Disclosure and Transparency rules, relating to the
period from 1 September 2010 to 6 November 2010.

CURRENT TRADING

Total Group sales in the first 10 weeks of the financial year were -2% compared
to the same period last year.

WHSmith Travel like-for-like sales were -1%, in line with expectations. The new
store opening programme continues as planned.

WHSmith High Street like-for-like sales were -4% in the period, in line with
expectations. We continue to focus on delivering our strategy to rebalance the
mix of our business towards our core categories.

FINANCIAL POSITION

The Group's financial performance in the current year has started in line with
market expectations.

Further to our announcement on 14 October 2010 of our intention to return up to
GBP50m of cash to shareholders via a rolling share buyback programme, we have
purchased approximately 1.2 million shares to date at an average price of
481.328p.

PROSPECTS

We remain a resilient business and are well positioned for continued growth in
the future.

[scr00ge] 03/11/2010 10:57

Hiya

Anyone have any idea about the FunkyPigeon.com aquisition - I cant see any releases about this yet - interested to see what the deal is...

Humbug

[spob] 15/10/2010 06:40

WH Smith in giving mood

Created:14 October 2010Written by:John Hughman

Investors Chronicle

Although sales continue to go backwards at WH Smith, tight cost control and "delivering the retail basics" in its high street business meant the retailer was able to keep profits ticking up and the cash rolling in. That meant a hefty dividend hike and the planned return of a further £50m to shareholders through a rolling buy-back programme over the coming year, adding to the £35m returned over the last 12 months.

And despite the anaemic top-line performance, the retailer remains confident that it can eke out further profit growth, even in its high street operation which saw a 1 per cent drop in like-for-like sales, excluding a planned reduction in sales of entertainment products. That mix shift helped produce a 150 basis point gross margin improvement, and management identified £13m of cost savings on top of the £12m already announced.

Its travel division also improved profitability, even though underlying sales slipped 2 per cent on soft air passenger numbers. But new openings more than offset that weakness, including eight overseas. That doubled the overseas total, and the group plans to open a further 12 units in the next 18 months in India, Australia and the Middle East.

Broker Seymour Pierce expects 2011 pre-tax profits of £94m and EPS of 49.6p.


WH SMITH (SMWH)

ORD PRICE: 476p MARKET VALUE: £716m
TOUCH: 475-476p 12-MONTH HIGH: 551p LOW: 392p
DIVIDEND YIELD: 4.1% PE RATIO: 10
NET ASSET VALUE: 124p NET CASH: £56m



Year to 31 Aug Turnover (£bn) Pre-tax profit (£m) Earnings per share (p) Dividend per share (p)
2006 1.34 44.0 18.6 9.3
2007 1.30 76.0 34.3 11.8
2008 1.35 76.0 36.4 14.3
2009 1.34 82.0 42.7 16.7
2010 1.31 89.0 47.6 19.4
% change -2 +9 +11 +16
Ex-div: 5 Jan

Payment: 3 Feb



Guide to the terms used in IC results tables.

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IC VIEW: FairlyPricedAlthough WH Smith is becoming more of an income play, the international expansion means it does have growth opportunities over a longer-term horizon. For now, though, the shares are fairly priced.

Last IC view: Fairly priced, 511p, 23 Apr 2010


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Price 476p, Forward PE1 = 8.8 after cash

[nellie1973] 08/9/2010 19:50

Broker upgrade

[bigboyo] 26/7/2010 10:33

Its more to do with waste rather than cost .. i.e. take your own bags ..