WH Smith PLC said on Thursday that it expects full-year results to be in line with expectations.
The group said its travel business – focusing on mainline railway stations, airports and other travel hubs – continued to “perform strongly” whilst the high street business has come “in line with expectations”.
The retailer said: “We opened eight stores in Madrid Terminal 4 in mid-August and have also opened the first of six stores in Rio de Janeiro.”
“We now have 286 stores open internationally and we continue to see further opportunities in the international news, books and convenience travel market.”
The full results for the year to August 31 will be published on October 11 but in the meantime, WH Smith plan to focus on cost savings and margin improvements for the high street business to increase profits.
“We continue to invest in our new store format trials and have developed further our stationery ranges,” the group said in a statement.
Neil Wilson of Markets.com said: “As remarked in June, continued underinvestment in the High Street side of the business should not cloud the view that WH Smith is building a strong brand in Travel that has significant room to grow overseas.”
“This significantly reduces its exposure to the ailing UK high street – a strategy that increasingly looks like a master-stroke. While high street footfall is coming off, global air travel passenger growth is only heading up, and fast,” he added.
Shares in the group (LON: SMWH) are trading up 1.17 percent at 2.076,00 (1312GMT).