British retailer WH Smith posted a better-than-expected half-year profit on Thursday, helped by improved passenger numbers at airports and train stations.

The London-listed company, with stores in travel hubs across the world, reported a headline group profit before tax of 45 million pounds ($56.01 million) for the six months ended Feb. 28, compared with 14 million pounds a year earlier.

Analysts on average had expected a headline pretax profit of 42.6 million pounds for the half year, according to a company-compiled consensus.

The travel industry has made a strong comeback from pandemic lows as offices reopened and more people undertook leisure trips after months of restrictions, although rail strikes in the UK have caused some disruptions in the sector.

WH Smith said in a statement it had made a strong start to its second half and was trading ahead of its full-year expectations.

($1 = 0.8035 pounds) (Reporting by Muhammed Husain in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)