Games Workshop Group PLC (LSE:GAW) shares soared over 14% on Friday morning after the firm said trading had surpassed expectations over the first half of the year.
Shares surged 14.2% to 13,370p following the update, which said revenue over the first half of the year would exceed £260 million as pre-tax profit topped £120 million.
Licensing revenue was said to be on course to overshoot £30 million in the meantime, against £13 million a year earlier.
“The beauty of licensing income is it comes with negligible extra cost for the company and therefore is highly profitable,” AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould said.
He pointed to sales of the Space Marine 2 video game as likely boosting its licencing revenue, highlighting news of a potential tie-up with Amazon for a Warhammer 40K film and TV series was also due soon.
“Being vertically integrated, Games Workshop controls everything from design to sales, allowing efficient cost optimisation and pricing control,” Mould said.
“It continues to be a unique business on the UK market and that has helped it attract a premium valuation.”