Games Workshop announced they are paying shareholders $20 million, as profits are ahead of projections as Warhammer sales have surged.
With 10th Edition Warhammer 40k here, a Henry Cavill project on the horizon, and tons of licensing deals, GW has seen record profits throughout this period of the year. They are reporting on the period from June to August (summer 2023), and they had a profit before tax of around $70 million.
Ahead of the Company’s AGM next week, Games Workshop Group PLC announces today that trading for the three months to 27 August 2023 was ahead of the Board’s expectations for the quarter with core revenue of c.£121 million (2022/23: £106 million) and licensing revenue of c.£6 million (2022/23: £3 million). Profit before tax is estimated at c.£57 million (2022/23: £39 million). This has been driven by healthy growth across all channels.
This is “ahead of their expectations,” and shareholders are getting quite the payout. There have been a ton of things in the works for GW, and it seems like they are capitalizing on it all quite well.
Games Workshop’s total share dividends came out to $2.42 per share (up from $1.49 at the same period last year). This, in total, comes out to around $20 million across all the shareholders. GW says this is due to healthy growth across all channels.
While they don’t give exact reasons, obviously the launch of 10th Edition, plenty of new AoS figures (and the long-awaited rework of Cities of Sigmar), and more licensing than they have seen in a long time.
Licensing revenue, not including costs or tax – has doubled from the same time last year—around $7.5 million in just the last few months. If you’ve been paying attention, there have been endless JOYTOY figures and even a project with Henry Cavill in the works too.
While the figures and trinkets have helped with licensing, GW should be including the profits for projects that have been approved at this time. This means there is a big chance something with Cavill got the green light or another big project, which could make up the bulk of the money.
There’s also a chance this means the Cavill project is fully approved and actually in the making! While that’s just conjecture, it would make sense with the timeline we received at the beginning of the deal.
Or perhaps they just banked off Leviathan sales and 10th Edition stock rotation. This could also have been the last big push for licensing deals of the year, as they might not have anything else in the works.
Winning with One Hand Tied Behind Their Back
This also comes on top of their second big product launch of the summer (Legions Imperialis) being delayed. It’s still not out, so we’re not sure what the significant delay is, but we’ve heard rumors about the rulebook not being printed correctly.
Either way, the company has to be pretty pleased with profits, considering one of their big games didn’t even release on schedule in this timeframe.
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About the Author: Travis Pasch
Travis Pasch
Job Title: Head Writer & Editor
Socials: @paschbass
About Travis Pasch: Travis has been a Warhammer 40k hobbyist since the 1990s, playing the game since Third Edition. Through extensive traveling, he’s seen a lot of the miniatures hobby from across the world, giving him a unique perspective on the latest gaming topics and trends.
Travis’s brother even owns a commission painting studio, where he’s picked up a lot of good advice and techniques for painting Warhammer and tabletop miniatures over the years, as well. Travis joined the Spikey Bits team in 2019 and has been the lead writer since 2020.
Currently, he’s working on converting all his 40k Adeptus Mechanicus models and becoming a true tech enjoyer, complete with both sad and happy robot noises!
