WH Smith Dividend a Worry After Retailer’s Worst-Ever Year

WH Smith Plc’s CEO is on the way out, its results have been delayed twice and its shares are heading for their worst year on record after an accounting snafu at the embattled retailer. A dividend cut could be next.

The British company is expected to round off months of turmoil this week by reducing its annual dividend by 14% from a year earlier, according to a survey of nine analysts by Bloomberg. Deutsche Numis’s Tim Barrett expects no further payment to shareholders beyond what WH Smith already declared in April.