Games Workshop’s (GAW) full-year results show a third straight year of record constant-currency sales, profit, cash generation and returns to shareholders, giving further credence to its maddeningly simple strategy of investing in its products and engaging with customers around the world. Given such a performance, it is natural to ask how much further the group has to run. On this, management is circumspect, saying it will “make no promises that we will continue to grow” – but adding somewhat reassuringly that it does not see anything that will get in the way.
The group is not acting as though it is expecting a slowdown. It has agreed a 50 per cent increase in the size of its Memphis, Tennessee, warehousing facility and is moving into a custom-built facility near Nottingham, England, investing £5m in fixtures, fittings and technology in each.
Its customer engagement strategy also provides fuel for optimism. The group almost doubled page views for its community website to over 114m, while the number of users increased by 1m to more than 6m overall.
Royalty income increased 18 per cent at constant currencies, and the group is looking at other ways to develop and monetise its intellectual property. In July, post-period-end, it signed a development agreement with a production company to begin developing one of its stories for television.
Bloomberg consensus figures forecast adjusted earnings per share of 207p for 2020, up from 202p in 2019.
| GAMES WORKSHOP (GAW) | ||||
| ORD PRICE: | 4,826p | MARKET VALUE: | £1.6bn | |
| TOUCH: | 4,820-4,826p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 5,160p | LOW: 2,760p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 3.2% | PE RATIO: | 24 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 328p | NET CASH: | £29.4m | |
| Year to 2 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
| 2015 | 119 | 16.6 | 38.3 | 52 |
| 2016 | 118 | 16.9 | 42.1 | 40 |
| 2017 | 158 | 38.4 | 95.1 | 74 |
| 2018* (restated) | 221 | 74.3 | 184 | 126 |
| 2019 | 257 | 81.3 | 203 | 155 |
| % change | +16 | +9 | +10 | +23 |
| **Ex-div: | 8 Aug | |||
| **Payment: | 13 Sep | |||
| *Prior period was 53 weeks to 3 June 2018 **Dividends paid quarterly | ||||
