Come see the latest from Games Workshop on the annual sales, the hobby, and a whole lot of explaining about the day to day operations in Nottingham!
We will provide the detailed information on the results for the 2015/6 financial year at the time of our announcement on 26 July 2016.
Regardless just as any year, there is no lack of drama with this report as Roundtree address a number of proxie votes against the board, why the may have happened, and then in a whopping 64 page report breaks down a lot of what it is GW does as a company.
Buckle up butter cup this one’s a whopper:
Some highlights courtesy of BoLS:
Source: GW Investor Relations
This is a very short post with only the breaking news and links. We will dig much deeper into this report in the days ahead.
Games Workshop Annual Report 2015-16 – Press Announcement
Annual Report 2016 (Full Report)
Some top level numbers: (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%Excerpts from the Non-Executive Chairman:
“The board spent a day recently debating the fact that many proxy votes were cast against it. They were mostly aimed at the remuneration policy (a very fashionable topic these days), the non-executive directors who have served ‘too long’ and, me, the chairman on numerous counts.
As the voting at the AGM itself was unanimously in favour of all resolutions, we would be safe ignoring these proxies, cast as they are, largely, by institutional investors and often by their compliance teams and not the fund managers themselves. Nevertheless they raise two issues: have we explained ourselves properly, and does anyone take any notice if we do? We explain ourselves thoroughly in our corporate governance report (page 17) but some are missed by looking too closely at the detail.”
“The board’s role is to provide entrepreneurial leadership of the company within a framework of prudent and effective controls which enables risk to be assessed and managed.
I prefer ‘effective’ to ‘entrepreneurial’; nevertheless the board at Games Workshop sees this as its main responsibility. We comply.”
“Over the years we have been exhorted by some to develop our revenue stream by ‘leveraging’ our IP. Using our great imagery we could do all sorts of lucrative and exciting value-enhancing (i.e. take private and re-float) deals. Actually, what they really mean is: do a movie!
We have never NOT done licensing deals, as you can see from the steady stream of royalties we earn; it’s just that we believe we must do them on our terms and not prostitute the business to any and every deal that comes along. If we do a movie (along with the concomitant abandonment of the toy rights) it will be on terms that do not compromise our business. It isn’t likely.
Long term owners will notice a big increase in royalty income this year. Have we sold out at last? No, it’s just that working closely with the myriad app developers, and being more precise with the terms we offer, we have increased the number of ‘computer’ games in the market.”
Yearly Review
“We made progress in what was another busy and rewarding year. We started the financial year off with a huge product launch; Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, one of the biggest changes we’ve ever made to one of our core universes. Our design to manufacture was outstanding, over-delivering in terms of original concept art to final manufactured models, producing some of the best models we’ve ever made. The simplified rules, supporting the models for those who like to play, made it much easier to get started. We learnt some valuable lessons during the year on how to deliver product system changes on this scale and as we released more of the range in the second half of the year, we finished the year with sales of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar at a higher rate than Warhammer has enjoyed for several years.
Gross margin was maintained in the period (2016: 68.3%; 2015: 68.9%). We continued with our policy of only increasing the prices of our new releases (approximately 30% of our sales) to reflect the necessary investment in our product offer and the quality we have built into these new releases. The annual impact of this increase on our UK RRP price list is an average increase of 3%.
Costs have increased in the year, mainly as a result of our store opening programme and the full year effect of the depreciation of the investment in our visitor centre which opened in April 2015.
After a disappointing December we carried out a thorough review of our operational plans and, thanks to a great team effort, we bounced back with four out of five months of profitable sales growth”
Games Workshop 12 Month Stock Price
View Last Year’s Report For Comparison
Well have at it, can GW see the light at the end of the tunnel now that this report is out, and hopefully enough to satiate the questions of a curious hobby and non-hobby audience?
We’ll be diving into this report even more in the future, but I am sure we’ll hear something from Richard Beddard on the matter soon as well.
So what say ye?
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 six 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 Long War 40k Doubles at 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.
