Investor Columnist Richard Beddard is back on Games Workshop’s case after their latest financials. Come see what he has to say about the company in 2016.
Richard Beddard had a lot to say on Friday about GW’s latest financial report, and he made four BIG points about it in his latest weekly column.
His frustration starts as early as page one of their 2015 financials;
Source: Richard Beddard, Interactive Investor Aug 5th 2016
GW: 2016 vs 2015
Revenue: -1%
Operating Profit (pre exceptional items & royalties) -27%
Operating Profit +2%
Earnings per share: +10%
Sales Channel Reports:
Retail: -2%
Trade Sales: +0.001%
Mail-order (web store): -2%
Games Workshop opened 48 new stores and closed 13, lifting the total number by 10%, yet retail sales fell 1.3%
Beddard’s Four Points:
Poor explanations
The firm is committed to returning cash it doesn’t need for investment to shareholders
Ignoring threats
The core customers are modellers who may never play the game.
But I’m not confident about Games Workshop and the reason isn’t, specifically, one of the putative challenges put up by naysayers over the years: (It is the following?):
- the emergence of competing model and game designers,
- videogames,
- the availability of counterfeit models on the Internet,
- or the possibility that in future modellers might print their own miniatures using 3D printers.
Tom Kirby
(Tom Kirby) Is he worth it?
The report gives the impression of a company run ruthlessly from the top down.
Kirby may be worth it – the annual report doesn’t divulge what he does – but his defence of the board is symptomatic of Games Workshop’s communications with stakeholders.
Source of extreme frustration
This is the source of my extreme frustration: 2016 was a relatively bad year for the core business, yet Games Workshop is healthy. A share price of just under 490p values the enterprise at just over £200 million, or 13 times adjusted profit (including royalties).
So basically to sum up his whole article Beddard states:
Instinct, though, tells me not to trust the board, not because it’s knowingly dishonest, but because unknowingly it believes its own hyperbole and only really listens to compliant customers, shareholders, and employees.
If it’s on the wrong track, the board’s stubborn insularity is likely to keep it there.
Well after that, how do you as a hobbyist think this conclusion sounds based on what you know of events of the past year? Is Games Workshop moving forward, on the wrong track, or perhaps both?
See what else Beddard thinks of Games Workshop
About the Author: Rob Baer
Rob Baer
Job Title: Managing Editor
Founded Spikey Bits in 2009
Socials: Rob Baer on Facebook and @catdaddymbg on X
About Rob Baer: Founder, Publisher, & Managing Editor of Spikey Bits, the leading tabletop gaming news website focused on the hobby side of wargaming and miniatures.
Rob also co-founded and currently hosts the Long War Podcast, which has over 350 episodes and focuses on tabletop miniatures gaming, specializing in Warhammer 40k. and spent five years writing for Bell of Lost Souls. Every year, along with his co-hosts, he helps host the Long War 40k Doubles Tournament at Adepticon and the Las Vegas Open, which attracts over 350 players from around the world.
Rob has won many Warhammer 40k Tournaments over the years, including multiple first-place finishes in Warhammer 40k Grand Tournaments over the years and even winning 1st place at the Adepticon 40k Team Tournament.
With over 30 years of experience in retail and distribution, Rob knows all the products and exactly which ones are the best. As a member of GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), he advocates for gaming stores and manufacturers in these difficult times, always looking for the next big thing to feature for the miniatures hobby, helping everyone to provide the value consumers want.
While he’s played every edition of Warhammer 40k and Warhammer Fantasy (since 5th Edition) and has been hobbying on miniatures since the 1980s, Titans of all sizes will always be his favorite! It’s even rumored that his hobby vault rivals the Solemnance Galleries, containing rulebooks filled with lore from editions long past, ancient packs of black-bordered Magic Cards, and models made of both pewter and resin.
