Wh Smith Share Discussion Threads

[mutandis] 15/11/2024 18:33

It is worth breaking down the net debt of £997m:

lease liabilities represent the majority at £626m, with an average life of 4 years; the repayment of this will be covered in arriving at the earnings of the business through depreciation and interest over the next 4 years (for example over £180m lease payments were covered in FY24 in arriving at earnings)

£371m is a convertible bond (convertible at £24.99 on 7 May 2026), if conversion does not take place, then it must be repaid, this is currently covered by a revolving credit facility that expires 3 years after the conversion date. If necessary, this could be paid down over approximately 3 years after May 26 from free cash flow(FCF) after paying dividends (FCF in FY24 was £144m and dividend payments £41m).

The balance of the net debt is £61m.

In addition, there is the £75m of cash refund from the pension buy-out (£50m of this is earmarked for share buybacks) and another £12m held in an investment fund for 2 years.

[essentialinvestor] 14/11/2024 17:56

Net debt is eye watering.

[mutandis] 14/11/2024 17:32

Missing consensus forecasts by ~2% likely explains the price drop today, still a good LT income investment. Dividend well covered by earnings and free cash flow.

[justiceforthemany] 14/11/2024 14:08

Results decent IMO.
Unwarranted drop.
Dividend hiked.

[undervaluedassets] 14/11/2024 08:57

nice results.

[gswredland] 14/11/2024 08:46

Many companies dropping on good results
Huge debt here is a worry

[ricardo montalban] 14/11/2024 08:27

Same price as 2014, whole U.K. stock market just a capital destructive pos, never recovered from gfc and then brexit started outflows that never stopped. Terminal.

[niklol] 14/11/2024 08:20

Exactly
So why has share price dropped???

[this_is_me] 14/11/2024 08:17

A good set of results showing continuing growth.

"In addition to the £50m share buyback announced in September, the Board is today proposing a final dividend of 22.6p, making a total of 33.6p for the year reflecting current trading and the significant medium and long term prospects for our global travel business."

[niklol] 21/10/2024 18:16

WH Smith to start selling vinyl records in 80 stores

[this_is_me] 13/9/2024 19:21

Still on the up.

[blueball] 11/9/2024 07:34

Great news.

[this_is_me] 11/9/2024 07:26

Initial response to the trading update is an impressive 10% rise in the share price.

[hopefulalways] 11/9/2024 07:22

RNS

The market liked some news for a change!

[niklol] 10/9/2024 17:45

Pre Close Trading Update due tomorrow

[kangaroo joe] 04/9/2024 14:37

Defo buy imo - good news looming. Fill ya boots!

[niklol] 04/9/2024 14:02

You spoke too soon!

[niklol] 04/9/2024 14:02

You spoke too soon!

[niklol] 04/9/2024 14:01

You spoke too soon!

[niklol] 04/9/2024 14:01

You spoke too soon!

[blueball] 29/8/2024 14:05

Sp moving up ever so high.

[blueball] 15/8/2024 12:59

American buyers know a bargain why cant you see.

[hopefulalways] 15/8/2024 07:50

Can't understand why this share has not taken off this year, may be the RNS shows that others feel that the upside is coming at long last.

[blueball] 15/8/2024 07:26

Interesting RNS.

[blueball] 08/8/2024 14:18

A good time to buy with RSI less than 50.