- The firm has declared dividends of £4.20 per share since the fiscal year began
- Games Workshop is famous for its Warhammer fantasy tabletop game series
Games Workshop will pay investors a 105p per share dividend after trading in the three months ending February was commensurate with forecasts.
It takes the total dividends announced by the Warhammer creator since the financial year started to £4.20 per share, up from the £4.15 per share handed out the previous year.
The Nottingham-based group declared record dividends per share of 195p for the six months to 26 November after achieving its highest half-year revenue and profits in history despite a difficult economic backdrop.
Fantasy: Games Workshop created the American football-themed tabletop game Blood Bowl
Analysts at Peel Hunt maintained their buy rating in the wake of the announcement on Thursday with a target price of 12000p, and upgraded the broker’s revenue and pre-tax profit forecasts by 3 per cent.
Peel Hunt said: ‘The encouraging trends from 1H are continuing. Games Workshop continues to perform well despite the tough consumer backdrop and there is plenty to look forward to in our view.’
Sales were uplifted by solid demand from independent retailers and bumper trade at the company’s stores in the UK and North America.
Digital sales also rose despite the firm acknowledging to ‘some teething issues’ with the launch of its new online store, although this was marginally offset by declining licensing income.
At the same time, profitability benefited from its core gross margin increasing by 5.2 percentage points to 69.4 per cent, thanks mainly to falling logistics costs and inventory provision charges.
On publishing the results, Kevin Rountree, chief executive of Games Workshop, said: ‘We continue to perform well during challenging economic times, delivering record group revenue, profit and dividends in the period.
‘Morale is good at Games Workshop and our hobbyists are having fun too.’
Founded in 1975, the company began as a boardgame distributor and manufacturer before transforming the following decade into a fantasy tabletop game maker with the launch of Warhammer.
Since Rountree arrived as CEO in 2015, the firm has enjoyed significant growth after improving relations with fans and launching more simplified games like the American football-themed Blood Bowl.
Trading received an even greater boost from the Covid-19 pandemic, even though its shops were forced to shut for much of the time, as lockdown restrictions forced people to spend more time indoors.
Games Workshop struck a deal with Amazon MGM Studios in December to develop Warhammer 40,000 into films and television series, which some analysts described as a ‘game changer’ for the FTSE 250 business.
Henry Cavill, known for his starring roles in the Superman franchise and Netflix show The Witcher, will reportedly act and be an executive producer on the sci-fi series.
Games Workshop Group shares were 1.8 per cent up at £102.30 just before midday on Thursday and have expanded by around 250 per cent over the past five years.
