Specialist Swindon firm's deal with Times and Sun publisher

Swindon-based Smiths News is the UK's largest news wholesaler and a leading provider of early morning end-to-end supply chain services, while News UK & Ireland Limited - News UK - publishes The Sun, Times and Sunday Times.
The new agreement reached with News UK is on enhanced commercial terms for Smiths News and includes:
- 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
- an extension in the contract term of our appointment through to July 2037.
Jonathan Bunting, Chief Executive Officer of Smiths News, said: “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."
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 also 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.
 

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