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Newspaper wholesaler Smiths News upgraded its annual profit expectations, citing a stabilisation in sales of newspapers and magazines.
The company said trading for the year through 28 August would be 'ahead of market expectations' amid a 'strong' operational performance in the 43 weeks to 26 June.
'As anticipated at the company's interim results in May 2021, core sales of newspapers and magazines have continued to stabilise, with positive year-on-year comparators for the months following the anniversary of the first lockdown in March 2020,' it said.
The return of major sporting events, particularly the European Football Championship, hasdfurther boosted sales of one-shots, stickers and albums.
These would generate a one-off benefit of about £1 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBTIDA) this financial year.
'Given the continued strong performance of the business, together with the one-off benefit to sticker and album sales this year, the board expects full year adjusted EBITDA to be ahead of market expectations,' Smiths said.