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WH Smith Insider to Succeed CEO Stephen Clarke After Six Years

WH Smith Insider to Succeed CEO Stephen Clarke After Six Years

(Bloomberg) -- WH Smith Plc Chief Executive Officer Stephen Clarke is leaving the U.K. news agent and bookstore chain after six years at the helm, where he’ll be succeeded by insider Carl Cowling.

WH Smith Insider to Succeed CEO Stephen Clarke After Six Years

Clarke took over from Kate Swann, a high-profile CEO who was credited with turning around WH Smith. Cowling, who has been with the business since 2014 and runs the main street retail arm, will take over in October. The shares fell as much as 4.1% early Tuesday in London.

During his tenure, Clarke helped turn WH Smith into a business focused on retail locations in busy transport hubs across the U.K., Europe and the U.S. while keeping a tight lid on costs in the less profitable main street unit.

WH Smith has increased its profit every year that Clarke has been in charge, and sales in the latest 11 weeks rose 1 percent on a comparable basis, the company said Tuesday. Through Monday’s close, WH Smith shares had nearly tripled under Clarke’s tenure, more than double the advance under Swann.

WH Smith Insider to Succeed CEO Stephen Clarke After Six Years

Clarke leaves the company in “very good shape,” according to RBC analyst Richard Chamberlain.

“We think this news will be taken negatively by the market short term,” Chamberlain wrote in a note. “We don’t expect group strategy to change and as such any share price weakness should create a buying opportunity.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Deirdre Hipwell in London at dhipwell@bloomberg.net;Lisa Pham in London at lpham14@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Eric Pfanner at epfanner1@bloomberg.net, Marthe Fourcade

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