Paper Profits - Published:17/10/07
position platform paper seller WH Smith (LSE: SMWH) today signalled a arresting 29% jump in pre-profits to £66m for the year ended 31 imposing Net profit per share rose almost 26% to 293p and the final bonus has been lifted 31%But don't get overwhelmed by too much elation Sales were lower and the company is making the kind of cautious noises we have recently learnt to wait for from UK retailersThe headline numbers surely grabbed my attention, although on closer examination, returns from ongoing operations were rather less impressivefar above the ground street profits grew only 5% on sales down 6%, and while the journey division made 16% more than during the previous twelve months, like-for-like sales greater than before just 2% There was a hefty gross margin trek as sales of CDs and DVDs were replaced by flogging more profitable sweets and books (the ubiquitous Harry Potter working the the supernatural, but the main reason for the pre-tax profit jump was financialA mixture of higher investment income and lower funding costs led to a fall in mesh finance charges from £9m to £1m, while the cost cutting programme kicked in faster than predictableWH Smith operates 18 outlets at London's Heathrow airfield, famous for its extended delays and lengthy safety checks Though for every cloud there's a gray lining Frustrated passengers are shelling out more on food, drinks and magazines to while absent the hours And Smith has been cashing inNow I tend to avoid motorway repair areas But WH Smith takes a dissimilar view and has been opening up outlets so fast, it's now in front of schedule There are now 50 Moto and 35 Welcome smash food open, which the company claims are trading wellIndeed, so ‘encouraging' has been the customer reply that Smith is now looking to get bigger further at sites of other motorway service region operatorsFurther, the retailer is tacking on as many as 71 Post Office concessions to its high street food and has so distant opened up 23, with the balance planned for the rest of this year and in 2008Now that the one-off charges relating to the earlier information distribution unit spin-off are out of the way, WH Smith will require to deliver top-line sales growth to keep those proceeds stacking up There's a limit to how distant margin widening and cost cutting will force the bottom lineAnd this is where the company joins the rest of the retailing organization in expressing a fair amount of caution about the future Citing the consumer environment as unsure', Smith expects the key Christmas period to be very competitive, but reckons it has ‘planned so'Perhaps in keeping with overall impressions of the company, the stock valuation looks OK without exactly being extremely appealing Having fallen from a high of 460p at the start of this year to 392p nowadays, on a prospective price to earnings ratio for 2008 of some 125 times at a yield of 33%, the shares aren't particularly expensiveBut you almost certainly won't be rushing to fill your boots at this height Nor me, though if the price falls back to recent lows near 360p, and with a share cash in programme in the offing, I might be tempted© Copyright 1998-2007, The assorted Fool incomplete All rights reserved This material is for personal employ onlyPlace of Reg: England & Wales Company Reg No: 3736872 VAT Reg No: 735 7818 01 Registered Office: 30.
Read More:
Paper Profits >>
Post Office travel insurance warning - Published:10/09/07
The Post Office has warned that some people are risking the defeat of hundreds of pounds by ignoring the importance of travel coverRecent research from the travel cover provider revealed that almost half of people who go abroad do not bother captivating out cover - a proportion which the Post Office believes is "extremely alarming"John Howells, skull of travel at the Post Office, said journey insurance is often forgotten by holidaymakers in the excitement of preparing for their smash or, in some cases, is deemed to be non-essential"Something as ordinary as a lost container or visit to a doctor abroad could see a person gunfire out hundreds of pounds if they don't have cover Why take the risk" he askedIn the Post Office survey, 46 per cent of respondents who did not take out travel cover on recent trips said they did not require it, 14 per cent had forgotten to book it and 12 per cent said it is.
Read More:
Post Office Travel Insurance Warning >>
Post Office PPI could be cheaper - Published:30/01/07
Customers could be in line to create big savings if they button their payment protection insurance (PPI) to the Post OfficeAccording to the Post Office, shopping around for a better contract is in the best interests of the consumer, as at there, some providers of PPI add the cost of the product to the price of the loan which means that the individual is paying interest on bothThe Post Office has said that it would like to see more people challenging this to find out what the cost of purchasing PPI and a loan separately would be as it has found that some consumers could be missing out on savings of around £1,500Post Office head of infrastructure Claire Oldstein remarked: "People with a protected loan should call their lender and inquire what they might receive if they cancelled their payment protection but kept the loan There is no need to employ a third party, which will generally claim a percentage of the repayment"Following the recent investigation carried out by the Office of Fair Trading into the PPI industry, the position Office responded by voicing its desire to see an unlock marketplace so customers know what deals are out there on.
Read More:
Post Office Ppi Could Be Cheaper >>
