FTSE 250 round-up: WH Smith, Ocado
With markets remaining volatile, Graeme Evans looks at some of the day’s big stories in the mid-cap index.
19th November 2025 15:15
by Graeme Evans from interactive investor
An Ocado electric delivery van in London. Photo: Mike Kemp/In Pictures via Getty Images.
Hopes that WH Smith (LSE:SMWH) and Ocado Group (LSE:OCDO) can move forward after major North American setbacks today helped their battered FTSE 250-listed shares to recover some lost ground.
The travel-focused retail chain put back 44p to 657p as shareholders welcomed the clarity provided by Deloitte’s review into the US accounting errors first disclosed in August.
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Ocado added a modest 3.9p to 183.8p, having shed 17% of its value when US partner Kroger said yesterday that it intended to close three of its eight customer fulfilment centres (CFC).
Kroger highlighted the value of CFCs in “high-density” markets, boosting hopes that the tie-up can return to growth through potential 2026 openings and smaller-scale Ocado solutions.
The closure move cuts Ocado annual revenues by $50 million (£ million) but the technology group also expects to receive $250 million in termination fees, which Bank of America analysts said should boost the group’s near-term liquidity.
While a blow to sentiment, the bank added today that the update brought some clarity after Kroger announced a review of its automated facilities in September.
BofA has a price target of 330p, while Peel Hunt cut its position to 315p from 345p previously. In contrast, Barclays lowered its price target to 160p and Morgan Stanley moved to 150p.
The shares are back at their lowest levels in over a decade, having slumped from August’s peak for this year at 395p and their pandemic-boosted position above 2,000p in early 2021.
Peel Hunt said: “Yesterday’s announcement from Kroger and Ocado is not as bad as it could have been. In fact, there are silver linings in many places.”
WH Smith shares today opened below 600p for the first time in a decade after it said that chief executive Carl Cowling had resigned in light of the overstatement of North America profits.
Cowling, who took charge in 2019, said: “While the issues identified in the Deloitte review arose in our North American division, I recognise the seriousness of this situation and as group CEO feel it is only right that I step down from my position.”
Deloitte found that the accounting treatment for supplier income adopted by the North America division was not consistent with the group's accounting policy.
It said the shortcomings arose against the backdrop of a target-driven performance culture and decentralised divisional structure, combined with a limited level of group oversight of the finance processes in North America.
The review means that American trading profit in delayed annual results on 16 December will be in the range of £5 million-£15 million, down from £55 million seen by City analysts prior to the disclosures. Group headline profit is likely to be £100-110 million.
The guidance on 2025 profits removed some of the uncertainty hanging over the shares, which have fallen from more than 1,100p prior to emergence of the accounting issues.
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Board chair Annette Court said: “Our priority now is to rebuild trust and credibility and to improve the performance and profitability of our North America division.”
She said that UK chief executive Andrew Harrison will run the company while the search for a permanent successor to Cowling takes place.
Court added: “We are confident that the actions we have taken and will continue to implement over the months ahead will ensure a strong foundation for the business going forward.”
The stock was 2,400p in the month before the pandemic disruption, a level the retailer has not come close to revisiting despite its growth ambitions in North American travel.
Having bought InMotion in 2018 and Marshall Retail Group the following year, the division now trades from 340 stores and has a pipeline of 70 outlets planned over the next three years.
The business is WH Smith’s second largest in profit terms, with the retailer targeting a 20% share of the North American travel market by 2028.
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