Published: November 19, 2025 at 8:12 am
The CEO of WH Smith has resigned after accounting inconsistencies in supplier income recognition within its North America division were identified.
An independent Deloitte Review said that there would be a net reduction in supplier income of approximately £22m and additional one-off inventory costs of around £20m in the division.
North America’s headline trading profit has been revised to £5m-£15m, down from the revised expectation of around £25m announced on 21st August 2025 and previous market expectations of £55m.
WH Smith PLC’s headline trading profit for the year ended 31st August 2025 is now anticipated to be between £100-110m.
Carl Cowling offered his resignation, and the board has accepted it. Andrew Harrison, CEO of the UK division, has taken on the group CEO role on an interim basis.