WH Smith CEO to resign after North America accounting failure

British travel retailer WH Smith said on Wednesday CEO Carl Cowling has offered to resign following the findings of an independent review that revealed accounting failures in the company's North American operations.

The review found weaknesses in the composition of the North America finance team, along with insufficient systems, controls, and review procedures for supplier income across commercial and finance functions.

WH Smith now expects its group headline trading profit for fiscal 2025 to be between 100 million pounds and 110 million pounds ($131.37 million and $144.51 million), down nearly 55% from last year.


North American profit is now expected to fall to 5 million pounds-15 million pounds, below previous market expectations of 55 million pounds.