Wh Smith Share Discussion Threads

[makinbuks] 14/9/2017 13:12

New highs, must admit I've top sliced in anticipation of a pull back when the results are announced. Probably completely wrong

[johnwise] 17/7/2017 15:35

WH Smith refusing to stock copies of The Northern Echo

RETAILER WH Smith has taken the decision to stop stocking The Northern Echo in some of its branches but copies can still be bought from all major supermarkets and newsagents.

This follows a move by the chain to try and impose fees on publishers in return for selling newspapers through its stores.

Readers are reminded that WH Smith is responsible for only a very small number of all copies of The Northern Echo sold each day and they can still find their favourite local paper at all of the major supermarkets, including Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and the Coop, as well as at newsagents across the region.

[johnwise] 14/6/2017 08:59

WHSmith reviews

[johnwise] 14/6/2017 08:31

The worst customer service on the high street,.. Only fools queue to spend money..

All most all of this shop sells can be bought on the Internet at a discount


The steady decline in high street sales at WH Smith showed no sign of slowing in the spring as like-for-like sales fell 4pc.



Britain's Best And Worst High Street Stores

Here's a full round up of the top five stores:

Brand Customer Score

Waitrose 84%
John Lewis 78%
Local special electrical retailers 75%
Lush 72%
Local independent home or garden store 72%

And here are the five worst.

Brand Customer Score

JD Sports 36%
JJB Sports 37%
Currys Digital 40%
WHSmith 42%
Currys 42%

[walbrock82] 01/6/2017 08:22

WH Smiths (unlike Woolworths) have turned their business around when others have gone bust. And in the last ten years they achieved the following:

A. They saw operating margins increase by 3-fold (from 3.3% to 11%). It helped to boost operating profits from £47m to £133m.
B. It manages to maintain free cash flow to operating cash flow at 70%, this plays a crucial in dividends and share buybacks.
C. Number of shares outstanding fell from 183m to 112m, which helped boost the share price by an extra £6 per share.
D. Using EV/EBIT ratio, it stands at 13 times, which is twice their normal average.

One big reason for Smiths success is down to its travel division.
Rail has enjoyed their revival, see chart:
Air travel has been going from strength to strength, see here:

However, there some concerns and one big factor is the decline of its inventory turnover from 5.7x to 3.45x. That leads to longer holding period.
But the major findings from Smiths is the bizarre retail coverage of its high-street division. That division saw revenue declined from £1.1bn to £630m in the past decade. But, it's “Sq. ft.” coverage is hovering at 2.8m, slightly lower than 3m (2006). While, at the same time, its store numbers rose from 543 to 612.
To me, Smiths valuation is high. And with analysts pencilling in £1.05 per share in earnings for 2017 and £1.09 per share for 2018. The earnings per share growth are small if we factor in share buybacks.

If enjoy these facts, why not see it in chart form and with added explanation.

[makinbuks] 12/4/2017 12:47

Solid set of interims. Concerns would be that 50% of the increase in Overseas travel revenue was currency related although to be fair LFL was higher too, the statements regarding Funky Pigeon are vague and woolly and the cash conversion was lower leading to a small net debt position. Nothing to be too concerned about but you get the impression that maintaining that high single digit EPS growth is getting harder. How long can volumes on the high street continue falling by 2% - 4%? Based on the RSI graphs above we may be in for a short term pull back

[makinbuks] 07/12/2016 12:52

A little disappointed that the Barclays mandate to carry on repurchasing stock is limited to £5m which between now and 25th January is a considerable reduction in activity from the 40k a day run rate at the end of November

[makinbuks] 29/11/2016 12:14

In the month of November I make it they have bought back c. 653k shares at a cost of around £9.8m so nearly 20% of the annual commitment. Also the daily volume went from 16k to 35k and then 40k in the last two days. They clearly feel that this £15 level will not be around long

[spob] 20/1/2016 08:23

" The 224-year-old group said growth at its High Street business was driven by the recent trend towards 'colour therapy', including colouring books for adults.

The 'colour therapy' trend is picking up in the UK as more and more customers look to de-stress and spend time away from their mobile phones and tablet screens."


Really!

[harebridge] 20/1/2016 07:52

Good Xmas figures out today. Retailers have been battered really badly recently, especially here. Should see a good bounce today.

[rarther] 06/11/2015 09:09

Fantastic write up IC... much appreciated.

Quite shocked how little forum interest there is in this company considering it is now a case study in financial management for the whole retail industry.

Brilliantly managed business.

[32nddegree] 23/1/2015 12:29

Be aware my enemies in The British Government are going to manipulate this share:

I set up a short at 1370 for understandable reasons. Let's see if the people who are manipulating against me manage to take it just past my stop loss to about 14xx and then it go down the pan to about £2!

You have all been warned/advised! Manipulation from my enemies in the British Government. You will think "was this a coincidence" when it happens and no it isn't.

[jeffcranbounre] 22/1/2015 17:44

WH Smith is featured in today's ADVFN podcast.

To listen to the podcast click here>

In today's podcast:

- Chris Oil, financial writer and city investor will be chatting about a well known name who could be back in fashion. Chris on Twitter is @ChrisOil

- And Rodney Hobson, a financial speaker, writer and author of investment books including Shares Made Simple, the beginner's guide to the stock market. Rodney on Twitter is @RodneyHobson

- The micro and macro news

- Plus the broker forecasts

Every Tuesday is Ten Bagger Tuesday on the podcast. If you know of a stock, whose share price has the potential to increase ten fold, just click the link below.



(All it involves is filling out a form that will take you around 5 minutes and you don't personally appear on the podcast).

Once a week, on a Friday, I feature a tip from a listener to this podcast, if you'd like to suggest a stock click the link below:



(Again all it involves is filling out a form that will take you around 5 minutes and you don't personally appear on the podcast).

You can subscribe to this podcast in iTunes by clicking

To follow me on Twitter click

As a listener to the ADVFN podcast you can take advantage of some exclusive first year discounts on popular subscriptions:

Bronze - £50 (normally £73.82/year)
Silver - £145 (normally £173.71/year)
Level 2 - £350 (normally £472.94/year)

Call 0207 0700 961 and ask for the ADVFN Podcast discount to take advantage of these reduced rates or just for more information.

Please DO NOT buy any stock recommended in this podcast basely solely on what you hear. The opinions in this podcasts are just that, opinions. Please do you own research before investing.

Justin

 

 

[tiger60] 01/1/2015 20:11

Short but as it is one of the most shorted listed companies I expect there are a lot of shorters out there waiting for the fall. But like you said the charts are telling a different story, but once it turns it will be quick.

If only i could find a way of shorting Herbalife....

[eastbourne1982] 01/1/2015 12:37

On paper this looks like a cracking short at the current price, trading between £13.50 and £13.60 intraday however the price just seems to want to head north with the price surging over the last few months.

Fundamentally why would you buy shares in W H Smith at the current price ? It is in the main a declining business yet people are still buying shares at these levels, it amazes me.

I will keep this on my watchlist with the intention of going short as I feel once a downtrend sets in it could be sustained.

Is anyone else short or considering opening a position ?

Cheers

[1gw] 16/12/2014 11:45

Sold out at just under £13 because I wanted the funds for something else (more Pace shares). Still like the WH Smith potential though and will keep watching with a view to buying back on a dip when funds allow.

[1gw] 25/11/2014 10:57

What are all those shorts thinking now?

[1gw] 06/11/2014 14:14

Cracking bounce off c. £10. Kicking myself for not buying more at that level.

[tiptv1] 16/10/2014 16:46

The chart seems to dictate that the Key support will come in near 1000p.

hxxp://www.tiptv.co.uk/archives/live-market-round-up-zak-mir-editor---16-10-14/

[1gw] 16/10/2014 07:19

Profit up and revenue down for another year (that's at least 6 years on the trot like this I think). Free cash flow up, dividend up, good news on the pension deficit, plans for more cost savings, further share buyback.

What's not to like?

[1gw] 21/8/2014 11:01

I bought a few pretty much at the peak mainly as a punt on a short-squeeze at some point. Not particularly exciting shopping there, although the kids like it, but it seems to be well run and I can't help feeling there's potential to find a way to return to high street revenue growth.

[drsmessguide] 21/8/2014 09:26

Can't fathom why it is such a great short, eps and divi just keep rising, pumping out cash, buying back shares and any surprise likely to be on the upside with the high street stabilising and travel growing.
I don't currently own any but am watching for any weakness

[1gw] 21/8/2014 08:59

No-one interested in talking about WH Smith? Amazing how the shorts stay put, the revenue keeps falling and the profits keep growing. What will happen if the market starts to think that revenue can rise as travel becomes an ever-bigger share of the business? Today's TU shows they're confident they can meet expectations for this year with "good performance" from both travel and high street, so steady as she goes for now.