Lack of humour hits WH Smith

RETAILER WH Smith said sales in its high stores were hit in the absence of any new publishing craze as the boom in demand for spoof humour titles came to an end.

The chain, which has stores all over Greater Manchester, posted a four per cent drop in like-for-like sales across its high street stores over the 20 weeks to January 20.

It blamed waning popularity of recent best-sellers such as Bruno Vincent’s Enid Blyton for grown-ups title, Five On Brexit Island and the Ladybird book of The Mid-Life Crisis.

Shares fell five per cent after the update. Stephen Clarke, group chief executive, said: “Our stationery and seasonal ranges, including cards and wrap, performed well with good sales growth versus last year.

“Book sales were more challenging due to the decline in spoof humour titles and no new, big publishing trends.”

The group’s star-performing travel arm remained the bright spot, with a three per cent rise thanks to the surge in passengers over the Christmas holiday season.

WH Smith’s high street chain has been bolstered in recent years thanks initially to the fad for adult colouring-in - known as colour therapy - and extreme dot-to-dot books in 2015, which was followed soon after by literary parody titles, which had the added benefit of being high-margin sales.

But Christmas 2017 was bereft of any new craze, the retailer said, although it insisted the fall in high street sales was in line with expectations.

WH Smith continues to cut costs to offset flagging sales, with savings running slightly ahead of target, at around £12m. It has 249 overseas travel stores, with another eight set to open in Singapore’s Changi Airport by the end of spring.