Games Workshop has declared an 80p per share dividend as the retailer continues to see strong trading momentum after a bumper year of returns.
The latest payout takes the Warhammer creator’s dividend payments to 265p per share so far this financial year, compared to 195p per share by the same time last year.
The Nottingham-based business, which celebrates its 50th anniversary in 2025, said the payouts reflected its policy to distribute ‘truly surplus cash’.
Games Workshop expects to report at least £295million in total revenue and pre-tax profits of no less than £120million for the six months ending 1 December.
Its overall sales and pre-tax profits for the same period in 2023 were £248.6million and £13million, respectively.
Analysts at broker Peel Hunt said the company had enjoyed ‘a busy few weeks,’ with Space Marine sales topping 5 million units and the Secret Level animated anthology series becoming Amazon Prime’s top-rated show.
Fantasy amount: Games Workshop has declared an 80 pence per share dividend
One of Secret Level’s episodes was based on the video game Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2.
Games Workshop also revealed last week that it had agreed ‘creative guidelines’ with Amazon for adapting Warhammer 40,000 into films and television shows.
Two years ago, the two firms reached a deal in principle to make productions based on Games Workshop’s intellectual property.
Twelve months later, Games Workshop gave Amazon the rights to develop projects set within the Warhammer 40,000 universe, as well as the associated merchandise rights.
It further granted Amazon an option to license equivalent rights in the Warhammer Fantasy universe once the initial Warhammer 40,000 production is released.
Games Workshop’s deal with the retail giant comes as the business gets set to enter the FTSE 100 Index for the first time following a blistering run of growth.
Under chief executive Kevin Rountree’s leadership, the company’s annual turnover has more than quadrupled, partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic encouraging more people to take up tabletop games.
It has also benefited from introducing or bringing back more simplified games, such as the American football-inspired Blood Bowl, where teams of fantasy creatures like elves, orcs, and lizardmen compete to score ‘touchdowns’.
Games Workshop Group shares were 0.15 per cent down at 13,530p on Wednesday morning, but have added almost 40 per cent since the start of the year – and around 2,600 per cent over the past decade.
Peel Hunt said recent strong performance puts Games Workshop shares close to the broker’s target price of 13,500p.
It maintained its ‘buy’ rating but said analysts would review at the time of Games Workshop’s interim returns ‘when we have greater clarity’ over Christmas trading.
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