Games Workshop Financials

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A good quick overview of the financials of GW. It shows – as already known in the industry – the strong turnaround the company has made in the last years.

What are your thoughts on the financials of GW? Is this a trend that will continue or  a fluke?

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4218278-toy-soldiers-high-margin-business-games-workshop

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Will people tire of endless new, sometimes flash-in-the-pan, product lines?

 

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Will people tire of endless new, sometimes flash-in-the-pan, product lines?

Well, I know I have!

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If any company can survive the ‘threat’ of videogames and whatever Brexit means to this industry it’s them.

With small scale skirmish games like Killteam, their use of pre-coloured plastics and easy build kits they have reduced the amount of time needed to get people playing, which should help a lot .
I’d say this also re-emphasizes that dropping WFB and switching to ‘Age of Sigmar’ was a very good idea.
As such they’ve set themselves up for success next year, unless disaster strikes.

Adeptus Titanicus may have to prove itself as a game, but it could be a solid core game line.

I think people forget that very few (I’m even tempted to say ‘none’) companies can operate within this hobby at the scale that GW does. The only companies with bigger revenue streams are the kind of mass market operations that make GW look like saints by comparison.

I’m no expert, but their trades look like a steady line upwards. The recent drop in october may simply be the result of the Brexit anxiety that is caused by sensationalist media and lazy/greedy politicians who prefer to fan to flames of conflict instead of looking for a solid compromise.

(*) videogames have threatened pretty much any hobby because they offer more immediate ‘fun’, which is essential if you don’t have a lot of time to spend on such activities. As did CCG’s once upon a time …
At the same time conventions like recent Spiel ’18 in Essen show that the industry itself is alive and kicking despite this supposed threat to its existence.

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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?

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