By Jack Mendel
Warhammer-maker Games Workshop recorded sales of over £200m for the first time, but Covid, Brexit and the war in Ukraine continue to dent its commercial plans.
The FTSE 250 firm announced it made £212m from May until the the end of 2022, up more than £20m on the previous year.
But it also reported a dip in operating profit of £83.6m, down from £88.5m last year. Its profit before tax was also £5m less than 2021.
“Games Workshop and the Warhammer hobby are in great shape”, said CEO Kevin Rountree, despite the disappointing profit numbers.
He said it had been “another rewarding and successful period for the global team with core sales for the six months of over £200 million for the first time.
“We will continue to focus on making thebest miniatures in the world, sign new licensing contracts with partners to exploit our IP outside of our core business and support our staff,” Rountree said.
Explaining external impacts on the firm, in particular Covid, its management said it is “still operating with additional safety measures in China and Japan and elsewhere our staff who ask to wear face coverings can.”
It also posted a slump in sales in China, which has spent the majority of last year under strict zero-covid restrictions. However, “the lost sales from China of c.£1 million for the last six months are not as bad as we forecast.”
On Brexit, the firm said it had “added extra costs but we now see these as the new cost of doing business, so we are managing what’s in our control to improve our margins.”
It also lost up to £2m in trade sales in Russia due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, the firm added.
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