- Better than expected quarterly sales and profit
- Strength seen across the board
- Dividend hiked 63%
Often companies provide the briefest of commentary to investors when the news is unpalatable and endless detail when things are going swimmingly well.
That has never applied to fantasy miniatures maker Games Workshop (GAW) which, true to form, released a short trading update on Friday.
Fortunately for investors the content was unreservedly positive, sending the shares soaring 10% higher to a one month high of £115.
The share price has resembled the Grand Old Duke of York over the last two years with the shares falling from a high of around £120 in July 2021 to a low of £58 in September 2022 before climbing all the way back close to the former highs.
The temporary fall from grace was driven by a combination of higher interest rates, which impacted growth shares in particular, and home-grown stumbles with management conceding it needed to scale the business with a little more ‘nous’.
WHAT DID THE COMPANY SAY?
Trading for the three months to 27 August has been ahead of the board’s expectations with core revenue (excluding lumpy royalty income) increasing 14% year-on-year to approximately £121 million.
Pre-tax profit is estimated to have jumped by a whopping 46% to £57 million while royalty income doubled to £6 million from £3 million.
Historically Games Workshop has benefited from strong operating leverage whereby a higher proportion of incremental revenues are turned into profit.
The company commented: ‘The board recognises that this performance is better than the prior year but is also aware that it is still early in the financial year.’
Investors hoping for an update on the deal struck with Amazon (AMZN:NASDAQ) in December 2022 to develop its Warhammer universe into film and TV productions will have to wait for a further update.
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While they wait investors are getting amply rewarded after the company declared a dividend of 50p per share, taking dividends declared so far in the current financial year to £1.95, up 63% on the prior year.
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