WH Smith shares rose 3% on Wednesday after reporting strong results ahead of the summer season.
The company said strong sales across its travel sites continue to outpace the peak peak season and that it is well positioned for the busy summer holiday season.
The group recorded a 4% increase in sales in the 13 weeks to June 1 compared to the same period last year, with sales up 5% at its global travel stores but down 1% at its high street stores.
But overall travel shops, which are based in train stations, airports and hospitals around the world, saw sales growth slow from 15% recorded in the first half of the year.
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The company has opened five Toys R Us shops within its stores, with a further 25 due to open by the end of August. WH Smith has also expanded its takeaway food range and launched a new brand, Smiths Family Kitchen, in more than 300 stores.
“The transformation of our business into a one-stop shop for travel essentials has delivered strong results, with average transaction values ​​and profits increasing,” the group said in a statement.
Inditex, which owns clothing store Zara, reported quarterly results that were in line with expectations after recent sales growth from its spring/summer collections.
Sales increased 7% in the fiscal first quarter and 12% from May 1 to June 3 compared to the same period last year.
The company, whose brands include Pull & Bear and Massimo Dutti, now expects currency fluctuations to cause a 2 percent drop in sales this year, up from a previous forecast of a 1.5 percent decline.
The company is now fending off fierce competition from rivals such as H&M, as well as fast-growing Chinese online retailers Shein and Temu, by delivering on fashion trends faster than anyone else.
Xavier Brun, a portfolio manager at Madrid-based Torea Asset Management, which holds Inditex shares, said the company is now “competing with itself” and that last year’s strong performance makes comparisons tougher this year.
Oil prices were hovering near four-month lows today but are beginning to recover on expectations of increased supply later this year as OPEC+ begins to remove some production cuts.
Brent crude futures rose 26 cents, or 0.3%, to $77.78 a barrel this morning, while US West Texas Intermediate crude futures rose 24 cents, or 0.3%, to $73.49.
Both contracts fell about $3 a barrel on Monday and fell more than 1% on Tuesday to close at their lowest levels since early February.
The announcement comes after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and its allies announced plans to increase supply from the fourth quarter, despite recent signs of weakening demand growth.
“The current oversupply situation is certainly causing anxiety even among those who are not long-time OPEC skeptics,” Helima Croft, head of commodities research at RBC Capital, said in a market note.
The announcement comes after three British energy companies decided to delay the planned start of oil production at a joint venture North Sea field by a year.
Jersey Oil & Gas, which owns 20 percent of the Buchan field, 120 miles northeast of Aberdeen, made the announcement on behalf of its joint venture partners, which also include Celica Energy and NEO Energy.
The cryptocurrency Bitcoin was back in the spotlight on Wednesday after it surpassed the $71,000 mark, nearing a fifth consecutive day of gains.
The move reflects growing confidence in global markets that the U.S. Federal Reserve (Fed) will cut interest rates this year, and is also benefiting from heavy inflows into exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that hold the token.
But the spot bitcoin ETF saw $886.6 million in inflows on Tuesday, according to crypto data firm CoinGlass, its best day of inflows since March and the second-largest single-day inflows since the spot ETF launched earlier this year.
Traders are now pricing in an increased likelihood of the Fed cutting interest rates as early as November, following data suggesting U.S. inflation is slowing and the labor market is softening.
Some government bond yields recorded their biggest two-day drop this year, and easing financial conditions could benefit speculative assets such as cryptocurrencies.
“Crypto assets are responding favorably to lower interest rates,” Tom Couture, vice president of digital asset strategy at Fundstrat Global Advisors, said in a note.
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