Books & stationery retailer WH Smith said that its gross margins improved by 150 basis points over the 21-week period ended January 23, despite a fall of 4 per cent in like-for-like sales.

Company also suffered a drop of 2 per cent in comparable sales at its travel division.

Now the retailer has plans for more share buy-backs. Chief executive Kate Swann said that the company had already bought more than 30 million pounds of shares as a part of its 35 million pounds share buy-back plan.

Commenting on the topic, Ms Swann added, "Most of the analysts are forecasting we'll have about £35m to £40m of cash at the end of the year, in spite of having done the buy-backs.”

Although, Ms Swann described company’s performance as good, yet the company remained cautious about consumer spending.