Warhammer strength keeps Games Workshop trading in line

Games Workshop Group updated the market on its trading for the six months ended 2 December on Friday, reporting that preliminary estimates indicated sales of around £124m in the first half of the financial year, and an operating profit of about £41m.

The FTSE 250 hobby item manufacturer said the results were in line with its expectations for the year ending 2 June 2019, although the board said it was aware that it was still early in the financial year.

“These results show the Warhammer hobby is in great shape in our core markets,” the board said in its statement, referring to its flagship line of wargaming products.

“We have built on the progress we made last year and the results are considerable given the backdrop of major projects; increasing factory capacity and enterprise resource planning system implementation.”

Games Workshop Group also announced that the board had declared a dividend of 30p per share, in line with the company's policy of distributing truly surplus cash.

That would be paid on 25 January to shareholders on the register on 21 December, with an ex-dividend date of 20 December.

The last date for elections for the dividend reinvestment plan would be 4 January.

“We expect to announce our half-yearly report for the six months to 2 December on 15 January,” the board added.