Games Workshop Group PLC’s (LON:GAW) full year profits stomped above its previous indications and the Warhammer hobby seller stressed that it intends to remain profitable “forever”.
The FTSE 250 company sold £256.6mln worth of miniature figurines, paints and books during the 52 weeks to 2 June, up 16% on the year before.
Adding in royalties paid from licencees, a profit before tax of £81.3mln was made, having indicated last month that it would be “not less than £80mln".
Earnings per share rose 10% to 202.9p.
Generating £88.8mln of cash over the year, the group declared a final payout of 30p, making for a bumper 155p of dividends per share declared during the year, up 23% on a year earlier.
"An amazing set of results - the best year in Games Workshop's history, so far,” said chief executive Kevin Rountree.
Further growth opportunities
He said he and the board “continue to believe that the prospects for the business are good” and see strong opportunities for growth, particularly in North America, Germany and Asia.
Last year sales were up 23% in Asia and in China surged 67%, with management taking a "patient" approach, adding a sixth store, launching an online Warhammer store and increasing the product range available in Mandarin.
Support for new customers has included developing a series of instructional 'how to play' videos, which Rountree says have been "a great success", with metrics up over 100% on the previous iterations of such videos.
The Nottingham based group finished the year with 517 Games Workshop stores in 23 countries, some of them now branded Warhammer shop, while other signs of increased customer engagemet also mushroomed, with the online Warhammer-community.com content channel growing to around 6mln users from just over 5mln a year ago.
Broker Peel Hunt said the sales and profits rose in the face of tough comparative performance last year from the launch of Warhammer 40,000.
"There is a lot of positive momentum in the business, with increases in the number of trade accounts (+15%) and hobby stores (+6%), new product launches and developments in TV and animation."
As well as increasing the level of engagement with hobbyists and adding to both production and distribution capacity, analysts said the company has considerable IP to drive royalty revenue.
"Games Workshop continues to provide a compelling mix of a unique business model, with high ROCE (100% last year), cash generation and content."
Shares were up 3% to 4,845.8p on Tuesday morning.