WH Smith Chief Exec Quits
Carl Cowling has resigned as head of the travel company, and one-time owner of a chain of bookstores, following an investigation into the massive overstatement of profits in the North American division.The company's profits had been revised down massively from market expectations of £55 million to only £5 million-£15 million.
Commenting on today's findings of the Deloitte probe, Annette Court, Chair of WH Smith PLC said: "This is an extremely serious matter that has had the Board's full attention, and we sincerely apologise for the shortcomings identified. While the issues identified arose in our North America division, we recognize the importance of strengthening controls, governance and reporting procedures across the Group.
The disclosure comes months after the company sold its 480 high-street bookstore business to Modella Capital, owners of Hobbycraft for £76 million. The stores are now trading as TG Jones, meaning WH Smith's remaining footprint in UK book retailing is through its airport, hospital, motorway and railway outlets.
The full version of this story, by Neill Denny, appeared in BookBrunch.
