Reply To: Games Workshop Financials

[zoidpinhead 12492xp 0]

Thanks for posting this.  It is a fairly newbie friendly summary of the current market position for GW.  Two years of strong growth and profits are a trend, not a fluke.  Although the writer is cautious about a continuation at this rate they do point out that the company is strongly focusing on community management.  From inside the industry we know that this focus on reconnecting with the customers has actually been a significant driver of sales.  Although he points out that some profit growth has come from cost rationalisation in the worldwide retail arm, the underlying growth in sales is actually the root cause for the positive financials.

Year end reporting is usually early in January so we will see then just how things are going but from what can be observed from within the industry GW have had some strong successes this year.  Most recently Kill Team and the Rogue Trader follow-up have gone well and the new LotR starter has been flying off the shelves so the year seems to be finishing strongly.  They have also signed a number of licensing deals to make up for the loss of the FFG link but the overall impact of this is uncertain.  Also FFG isn’t making the kind of impact that was feared with Star Wars Legions only just establishing itself and not even remotely close to a viable alternative to 40k at this stage.

Longer term the Brexit effect is uncertain.  Tarriffs may affect pricing and sales in some regions as production is largely UK based.  This may be somewhat offset by a likely fall in sterling if no-deal is agreed and the UK reverts to WTO default rules. Who knows?