WH Smith has delayed its annual results by over a month as it grapples with the fallout of an accounting blunder that saw it overstate profits in its US business by around £30 million.
The retailer said figures for the year to August 31, which had been due on November 12, are now expected to be published on December 16, as accounting giant Deloitte continues an independent review into the accounting issue, which is not set to complete until the end of November.
“The revised date will provide the company time to respond to the Deloitte review and allow the group’s auditors, PricewaterhouseCoopers, to complete the required audit procedures,” WH Smith said.
WH Smith saw its shares plunge when it revealed in August that its trading profit in North America had been overstated by about £30 million, when reviewing its finances.
This was because of an issue in how it calculated the amount of supplier income it received – leading it to be recognised too early.
It meant the group downgraded its expectations for full-year US trading profits to about £25 million – a cut from the previous £55 million forecast.
This saw it slash its wider group profit forecast to around £110 million, sending shares down by more than a third on the day.
The stock fell another 1% in morning trading on Wednesday, with WH Smith seeing its stock market valuation halve over the past year, recently falling below £1 billion for the first time in years.
The London-listed business sold its high street chain of about 480 shops to Hobbycraft owner Modella Capital in June.
As part of the deal, the WH Smith name will disappear from British high streets and be replaced by brand TGJones.
WH Smith is now focused solely on shops in global travel locations, such as in airports, train stations and hospitals, which total about 1,300 around the world, with the brand kept across this estate.
