UK accounting watchdog to probe PwC's fiscal 2024 audit of WH Smith (updated)

WH Smith

09/06/2026 08:21

FRC to probe PwC's audit of WH Smith accounts for fiscal 2024 
WH Smith is already undergoing an FCA probe 
PwC says to cooperate with regulator, WH Smith has no comment 
Adds company context in paragraphs 5-6, shares in 7, WH Smith declines to comment in 4

    June 9 (Reuters) - Britain's accounting regulator said on Tuesday it had launched an investigation into PricewaterhouseCoopers' audit of travel retailer WH Smith SMWH.L for the year ended August 2024.    
The Financial Reporting Council (FRC) did not specify the focus of the probe. 
The move comes as Britain's financial markets regulator has been investigating WH Smith since December over potential breaches of listing and disclosure rules. The retailer uncovered inflated earnings at its North America unit months earlier.
"We will be fully cooperating with the FRC's investigation," a PwC spokesperson said in an emailed response to Reuters. PwC has been WH Smith's auditor since 2015.
WH Smith, which is due to publish a trading update on Wednesday, declined to comment.
The firm has also been under pressure from a softer consumer market due to the Iran war, prompting it to suspend its dividend in April and cut its annual profit forecast.
The London-listed firm's shares were down 0.6% at 0755 GMT.
The FRC is separately also looking at PwC's audit of Digital 9 Infrastructure DGI9.L for its 2023 fiscal year.

 (Reporting by Prerna Bedi and Tuhina in Bengaluru. Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Mark Potter)
 ((Prerna.Bedi@thomsonreuters.com; +91 98052 24616;))