WH Smith PLC expects monthly cash burn of up to £20mln if
The firm has £340mln of cash and committed facilities available which reassures the market
() said it expects a monthly cash burn of £15-20mln between January and March if restrictions continue.
The newsagent ended December with £340mln of cash and committed facilities after paying £70mln in rent, restructuring charges and outstanding creditors.
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The FTSE 250 group is currently trading from most of its high street stores, including over 200 stores with Post Offices and over 200 UK Travel stores, as well as 130 hospital stores serving NHS workers.
In the 20 weeks to January 16, revenue tumbled 41% compared to the same period last year, with December down 38%, November down 42%, September and October down 41%.
Christmas trading was ahead of expectations, with seasonal and new ‘work from home’ ranges performing well.
The online businesses funkypigeon.com, cultpens.com and whsmith.co.uk performed very strongly with record performances and sales significantly ahead of the prior year, the group said.
However, travel stores tanked 63% due to the current restrictions, although North America saw a faster recovery versus the rest of the world thanks to a high percentage of domestic passengers.
“WH Smith’s trading update was predictably dark, but what else could it be given the conditions,” analysts at Peel Hunt commented.
“The key points here are that liquidity is in line with expectations, new business is still being won, and we remain positive.”
Shares jumped 7% to 1,663p on Wednesday morning.
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