Rising sales help Games Workshop to defy downturn

GAMES Workshop continues to defy the high street downturn with its hit Warhammer game driving sales.

The Nottingham-based retailer said it expected sales in the six months to December to come in 14pc higher at roughly £124m, while profits are estimated to reach £41m, a 6pc increase on the same period last year. Kevin Rountree, chief executive, said Games Workshop’s key Warhammer series was “in great shape in our core markets”.

“We have built on the progress we made last year and the results are considerable given the backdrop of major projects,” he said.

These projects include increasing factory capacity and overhauling its back-office software. Games Workshop sells figurines that customers build, paint and collect and then use to battle each other in strategy games. It released the latest version of its flagship, tabletop game, Warhammer 40,000, in July last year.

Shares in the FTSE 250 company rose 4.3pc to close at £31.25p yesterday.

The upbeat statement comes just two months after Games Workshop spooked investors with a vague market update warning of “uncertainties in the trading periods ahead”, sending its shares falling by as much as 8pc.

Analysts at Peel Hunt said yesterday’s update was “stellar”, given the company’s “exceptional” performance last year.

“Our recent visit to Nottingham demonstrated that the business is in good shape, with clear momentum in products and facilities,” they added.

Games Workshop has staged something of a comeback over the past three years, after falling into trouble in 2015.

More recently, it has been defying the doom and gloom engulfing the high street. In June, it briefly reached a £1bn market value for the first time after announcing that full-year profits were set to double.