Games Workshop staff enjoy £5m bonus

STAFF AT fantasy miniatures maker Games Workshop have been handed a £5 million bonus following a year of solid sales and profits.

A total of 1,713 employees will share the payout, which Games Workshop said is in recognition of their contribution to what is expected to be another stellar set of results.

The Nottingham-based group said on Friday that it expects to report annual pre-tax profit of at least £74 million, up from last year’s £38.4 million.

Revenue is also expected to jump, from £158.1 million to £219 million, with the firm boosted by £10 million in licensing royalties.

The results have also been helped by online sales and the continued popularity of tabletop game Warhammer.

But shares were down over 6 per cent after the miniatures company said it intends to halve its full-year dividend to 30p.

Investors were also fretting over first-quarter figures.

Charles Hall, analyst at Peel Hunt, said: “We continue to like the long-term prospects, but the shares feel toppy given that firstquarter sales are likely to be lower than last year.

“The company has plenty of new product launches over the summer, but these are unlikely to match a 40k product launch, hence our expectations that firstquarter 2019 sales will be lower than the prior year.”