Associated equity: Smiths News
Smiths News is the UK’s largest newspaper and magazine distributor with a c 55% market share covering 24,000 retailers in England and Wales. It has a range of long-term exclusive distribution contracts with major publishers, supplying a mix of supermarkets and independent retailers.
Smiths News — 4 videos in collection
Despite Smiths News’ share price more than doubling in the last year, the stock still trades on an undemanding P/E of c 5x. In this interview, Smiths News CEO, Jon Bunting, highlights the competitive advantages the company enjoys and discusses the lessons learnt from the ill-fated Tuffnells acquisition and subsequent disposal. He goes on to discuss the key changes he has introduced since becoming CEO of the group in 2020, and how he sees the newspaper and magazine market embracing the online world more closely. Of course, the long-term contracts now signed give the company space to consider the future and plan the next phase of the long-term cost-saving story. Finally, Jon discusses how Smiths will reinvest its strong cashflows outside the core business and the potential for ordinary and special dividends, with a couple of interesting, but little-known Smiths News facts to conclude.