WH Smith has been boosted with near-double profits as the travel and tourism industry continues to recover from the pandemic.
The retailer reported annual pre-tax profits of £143million in the year ending in August, compared with £73million the year prior.
Chief Executive Carl Cowling said: "This has been another year of significant progress for the Group. Our Travel divisions have all seen strong growth with Travel UK total revenue up 36%, North America up 32% and Rest of the World up 99%, and I am very pleased with the start to the new financial year.
"Our global travel business is growing in all our key markets.
"In 2024, we expect to invest a further £140m which will drive further growth and at the same time we expect our leverage to fall within our target range."
Elsewhere, Domino's Pizza Group reported a rise in sales in the third quarter, despite total orders falling.
The UK group, a franchise of US-based Domino's Pizza, said product price increases has helped the group as cash-strapped customers struggle to pay for deliveries.
Like-for-like system sales rose 3.7%, as total orders dropped 1.2% to 16.7million.
Andrew Rennie, Domino's CEO, said: "Having been in the business for 100 days and spent that time travelling around the UK and Ireland visiting franchisees, suppliers and colleagues I'm even more excited about the opportunities ahead for Domino's and our outstanding franchisees. I look forward to providing an initial outline on these growth opportunities for the business on 11 December."
"Our franchisees are performing well in an uncertain market, and we are all benefitting from an aligned system. We remain focused on giving our customers great tasting food, exceptional service and great value, every single time."
Meanwhile, high-street retailer The Works has reduced its profit guidance by £4million after a "challenging" six months.
The company reports that customer demand is softening, and combined with unseasonable weather, it's caused a drop in footfall and slowed sales.
CEO Gavin Peck said: "The first half of the year has been challenging for the retail sector as cost-of-living pressures continued to weigh on households.
"Consumer sentiment softened towards the end of the period, which resulted in early discounting across the sector and increased uncertainty as we head into the Christmas period.
"Recognising the competitiveness of the market we have responded with more promotional activity, which we expect to continue as we approach Christmas. Families will want to celebrate Christmas affordably and our value proposition makes us an ideal choice for them.
"Market conditions remain challenging and given the level of uncertainty in trading and forecasting we believe it is now prudent to moderate our expectations for FY24."
FTSE 100
The UK's flagship share index, the FTSE100, was down 38-points at 7,417 shortly after opening this morning.
Meanwhile, Brent crude futures were up 0.50% at $80.41 a barrel this morning.
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