Contract Win - National Distribution
17 June 2026
This announcement contains inside information
Smiths News PLC
("Smiths News" or the "Company")
News UK Contract Win - National Distribution
Smiths News (LSE: SNWS), the UK's largest news wholesaler and a leading provider of early morning end-to-end supply chain solutions, is pleased to announce that it has successfully secured a transformational long-term contract with News UK & Ireland Limited ("News UK"), publisher of 'The Sun', 'The Times' and 'The Sunday Times'.
The new agreement reached with News UK (the "Contract") is on enhanced commercial terms for Smiths News and includes (i) an expansion of the distribution territories in which the Company is appointed as News UK's exclusive wholesale distributor, thereby effectively securing national distribution of News UK's leading titles across all of Great Britain, to take effect from July 2027 and (ii) an extension in the contract term of our appointment through to July 2037.
The Contract sets out certain conditions, transitional milestones and obligations to be satisfied ahead of July 2027, key to which will be the establishment of an expanded national footprint capable of servicing the wholesale distribution for all relevant industry stakeholders. The Contract represents an incremental uplift in revenue of c.£125m per annum from July 2027 from the expanded territories.
In order to expand the Company's network for national distribution from July 2027, Smiths News would expect to incur one-off implementation costs during FY2027 as well as early-life transition costs. The network expansion is expected to provide a return on invested capital in excess of the Company's hurdle rate, and be accretive to earnings from FY2028 onwards. The Board expects to provide further guidance on the financial effects of the Contract in due course and, in any case, at the time of its preliminary financial results on 4 November 2026.
The Company expects to deliver this network expansion within its existing cash resources and financing arrangements and the Board confirms that it intends to maintain ordinary dividend guidance for both FY2026 and FY2027 at or above the current consensus estimates being 5.2p per share.
Jonathan Bunting, Chief Executive Officer of Smiths News, commented:
"We are delighted to announce the extension and expansion of our partnership with News UK through to 2037.
This deepens a relationship spanning more than 50 years, securing a reliable and sustainable national route to market for retailers and consumers - and enabling us to freeze delivery service charges for our retail customers for the life of the Contract.
Smiths News has a long and distinguished record in print distribution and industry-leading service. Today's announcement marks a significant milestone in securing a sustainable future for print news distribution, and reflects our shared commitment to supporting the industry for years to come."
For further information, please contact:
Smiths News PLC
Jonathan Bunting, Chief Executive Officer
Richard Clay, Chief Financial Officer
via Vigo Consulting
Vigo Consulting
Jeremy Garcia / Fiona Hetherington
Tel: +44 (0) 20 7390 0230
About Smiths News
Smiths News is the UK's largest news wholesaler and leading provider of early morning, end-to-end supply chain solutions. Smiths News has been delivering newspapers to retailers across the UK for over 200 years on behalf of the major national and regional publishers. Today, Smiths News delivers to over 22,000 customers across England and Wales on a daily basis.
Smiths News's service capability now extends into a number of new verticals that build on its expertise in warehousing, reverse logistics and early morning final mile services, across its extensive high-density UK delivery network, including a waste recycling collection service, the delivery of additional categories such as books and home entertainment, and extending our services in the final mile.
The speed of turnaround and the density of Smiths News' coverage is critical to one of the world's fastest physical supply chains and we remain focused on continuing to deliver best in class service to the newspapers and magazines market, whilst exploring opportunities for growth based on this strong foundation.
For more information, please visit: www.smithsnews.co.uk
Person responsible for arranging release of this announcement:
Stuart Marriner, General Counsel & Company Secretary
Smiths News plc, Rowan House, Cherry Orchard North, Kembrey Park, Swindon SN2 8UH
Email: cosec@smithsnews.co.uk
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