Despite the ongoing struggle for WH Smith (SMWH) on the British high street, it seems chairman Henry Staunton is confident the group's travel division will drive future earnings growth this year. Mr Staunton topped up his existing stake by 20,000 shares this week to the tune of nearly £320,000. Following the transaction Mr Staunton owns 30,000 shares or 0.026 per cent of the group.
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In a third-quarter update WH Smith reported total sales up 1 per cent and flat like-for-like revenues at the group level. But sales from the travel division shot up 8 per cent, with 4 per cent like-for-like growth, largely the result of last summer's roll-out of the Food to Go programme.