WH Smith, the stationery and book retailer has seen pre-tax profit increase 8% to £121 million, largely due to its travel business.
Figures show that that stores located at airports and rail stations rose 9%, although high street sales dropped 4%, however, total group sales were up 1% to £1,178 million.
WH Smith group chief executive, Stephen Clarke, said: "Our travel business continues to perform well with strong sales across all channels in the UK, reflecting our ongoing investment and growth in passenger numbers. Internationally, we have made good progress in growing our sales and profit.
"In the high street business, our profit focused strategy continues to deliver sustainable growth. In our core categories of stationery and books we had a stronger second half helped by the new phenomenon of 'colour therapy' for adults.”
