WH Smith has reported a fall in high street trading profit, which slipped from £22m to £15m in its first half results.

The figure comes ahead of WH Smith’s sale of its high street business to Modella Capital for £76m, which the retailer announced at the end of last month.

WH Smith did report a rise in trading profit across its travel business, however, which increased to £56m in the six months to 28 February, against £50m in the same period a year earlier.

Trading profit in the retailer’s UK travel business also showed a slight increase, from £37m to £40m in the latest H1 period, as the retailer now looks to shift its focus towards travel trading following the sale of its 482 high street stores to Modella.

WH Smith’s total group revenue reached £951m in H1, made up of £712m from travel revenue and just £239m by comparison from the high street.

“The group has had a good first half with consistent like-for-like growth across all our travel businesses, and we are well-positioned for the peak summer trading period,” WH Smith’s group chief executive, Carl Cowling, commented.

“The second half of the financial year has started well, and we remain on track to deliver full year results in line with market expectations. We are mindful of the increased level of geopolitical and economic uncertainty, however given the resilient nature of our business, we are well-positioned to benefit from the growth opportunities in global travel retail.”

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