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https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/games-workshop-shares-jump-sales-110417852.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZmFjZWJvb2suY29tLw&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAI5haO3OCSOX8WVgL-OxRai7UeGJrcLOrl9DkR_uXDBCAydLM2P2nf6aVeoL1e4AyDlJ8RqSvk-i847n_Vjx9jAuP0aXU6lUxpMlCUIwfpn2T1bS_hvOXA-Mr6p4NpQhnYGD_nNcKrpnsAcDZQ9K7I3UEH21LcYSTtNyheA-WqwK

And for the work blocked/click shy?

Yahoo News wrote:Games Workshop has seen its shares jump higher after telling investors that sales and profits are set to surge for the first of the year.

The retailer said it expects sales for the six months to December 1 to be at least £140 million.

During the six-month period to December in 2018 the retailer posted revenues of £125.2 million and has seen sales continued to increase since.

The Nottingham-headquartered firm added that it expects its pre-tax profits for the period to be at least £55 million.

Over the equivalent period last year, it posted profits of £40.8 million but expects the rise on the back of improving sales.

In a statement to investors, the company said: “Following on from the group’s update in September, trading to November 3 has continued well.

“Compared to the same period in the prior year, sales and profits are ahead.

“Royalties receivable are also significantly ahead of the prior year driven by the timing of guarantee income on signing new licences.”

The Warhammer manufacturer has seen its shares rise by 700% over the past three years and now has a market value of over £1.4 billion.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said: “While it isn’t entirely immune from any economic downturn and the negative effects that might have on consumer spending, there is a sense that Games Workshop is currently enjoying a sweet spot whereby it is offering products which appeal to its end-market and in an engaging way.

“Games Workshop has fine-tuned its proposition and hit on a winning formula.

“The fantasy world seems less susceptible to going in and out of fashion and that should enable the company to keep delivering the magic.”

Shares in the company rose by 15.4% to 5,200p in early trading on Friday.

All. The. Munneh.

Hope this means the rest of the industry is in equally rude health. Much as I'm a GW man, gotta have strong competition to prevent laziness, no?

I doubt it means much of anything for the rest of the industry as only GW can/would charge £175 for a £30 boxset and that's without the funky exchange rates. Obviously that's because only GW's fanbase would be willing to pay it but it will be interesting next year, Necromunda the wallet rape edition was released to offset the AT grand master from last year so they will need a similar expensive set next year.

IIRC last time it was mentioned GW made a ton of profit, about 90% was from videogame revenues. Not sure if that was true and/or still the case here.

 Malika2 wrote:
IIRC last time it was mentioned GW made a ton of profit, about 90% was from videogame revenues. Not sure if that was true and/or still the case here.

It would be hilarious if most of the profits actually came from Total War : Warhammer.
That would be some good irony.

All the recent reports showed vidya profits only made up something like 15% of the profits, with most of it coming from their core business, I imagine it remains true now too. Which is fantastic for them as a business of course.

Wasn’t true at all if memory serves.

The royalties certainly don’t hurt, but given all their sales mediums (direct, wholesale, stores) are profitable, that’s their main income.

Looking at the report, last year their profit without royalties was £69,834,000.00

Revenue from licensing? £11,365,00.

So a significant boost, but hardly the deciding factor twixt profit and loss

[quote=SeanDrake 782391 10627708 nullonly GW can/would charge £175 for a £30 boxset

 Malika2 wrote:
IIRC last time it was mentioned GW made a ton of profit, about 90% was from videogame revenues. Not sure if that was true and/or still the case here.

That's not how it would work, your profit is simply your income minus your expenditure, you can't attribute x% of it down to y.

However, there was a report back along towards the end of the Kirby era, when they were contracting, where the amount of money they gained from licencing was approximately the same as the profit they posted for that period. So while you can't say "they made their profit from licencing" you can absolutely say "they needed the income from licencing to avoid making a loss."

Who knew whales were so profitable? But what happens when GW stops bringing in new players because the prices are too high?

 Sqorgar wrote:
Who knew whales were so profitable? But what happens when GW stops bringing in new players because the prices are too high?

I got news for ya, that isn't going to happen.

The Electronic Games industry has been training youth for a decade now in the ways of pay to win. The economy is much better today than it was 10 years ago, and a lot of people have much more expendable money. In my area, 40K is outselling MtG currently in 2 of 4 stores.

But what happens when GW stops bringing in new players because the prices are too high?

Why do you think half of GW's product line today is skirmish games like Necromunda, Kill Team or Warcry, or Aeronautica?

Also, literally everyone knows whales are profitable, I bet most of the money GW makes comes from 40-50yo's who spend thousands of dollars a year on new projects, not the kids or responsible hobbyists who maybe spend a few hundred a year.

Good for GW! What I like most about GWs continual growth and surging profits is how silly it makes all the toxic 'comic book guys' that infest Dakka seem. How many years of "the sky is falling" has this been now? hahaha!

 Hollow wrote:
Good for GW! What I like most about GWs continual growth and surging profits is how silly it makes all the toxic 'comic book guys' that infest Dakka seem. How many years of "the sky is falling" has this been now? hahaha!

I also hate people who see some good news and decide to chime in with some ignorant comment or insult.
I agree with you - those type of people are pathetic losers!

 Sqorgar wrote:
Who knew whales were so profitable? But what happens when GW stops bringing in new players because the prices are too high?

Don't think that will ever happen, to be honest.

Middle Class Parents typically favour this sort of hobby for it's creative side and other educational benefits. And they typically have quite deep pockets.

It also makes for a decent reward system.

Consider, it is the start of the Summer Holidays. 6 weeks of needing to entertain your offspring. Requisite famalam holiday is booked. But what of the other 4/5 weeks?

You could find two or three activities per week, and pay for each and every one.

Or, you could drop £300-£400 at the beginning, and get your offspring into a whole new hobby which has a fair start up cost, but relatively low ongoing maintenance (£35 for a box of Marines, a week to paint them and game with them).

The next 6 months will be interesting.

Interest seems to be waning, sales seem to be dropping (BotP still has stock) and in general there seem to be less players, not more.

No doubt the success (or not) of Sisters, and Slaves to Darkness will be key, not to mention PA.

Good news, but I wonder how long GW can sustain this growth.

This may be pennies in the grand scheme of things, but how will the performance of Blood of the Phoenix have impacted their idea that people will pay more for less? If Necromunda goes the same way then maybe it's a sign for them to not increase prices so drastically?

It's good to see the company doing well though!

Edit: An Actual Englishman beat me to mentioning BotP, my fault for going afk

 Sqorgar wrote:
Who knew whales were so profitable? But what happens when GW stops bringing in new players because the prices are too high?

Dunno. It's been predicted to happen for about 20 years. Hasn't happened so far.

Can't imagine it's hard to do when you raise the prices with ever release and put out $300+ boxes every other week.

Togusa wrote:

 Sqorgar wrote:
Who knew whales were so profitable? But what happens when GW stops bringing in new players because the prices are too high?

I got news for ya, that isn't going to happen.

The Electronic Games industry has been training youth for a decade now in the ways of pay to win. The economy is much better today than it was 10 years ago, and a lot of people have much more expendable money. In my area, 40K is outselling MtG currently in 2 of 4 stores.

Nah, wrong on that one, friend. I've been living in east asia for about 3 years now, and the price of GW minis is prohibitively high. God knows there's interest, but there's no established community. New blood almost doesn't exist. I think GW makes its cash out of 1. kids in parts of the world where it's a known thing dipping in and, probably most importantly, 2. proper, proper fans. They pulled a clever trick, way back in the day by telling customers that they need an [/i]army, and it works. Recently, they've been catering specifically to that audience - truescale marines, paints to help slog through unpainted backlog faster, background factions getting actual armies - but to have a real[i] future, they're gonna have to work a bit harder on expanding in a way that won't scare of people who aren't familiar, and don't have a local GW. Where I am, there's a lot of commotion about contrast paint, but I'll be damned if there are any actual players.

 posermcbogus wrote:

Togusa wrote:

 Sqorgar wrote:
Who knew whales were so profitable? But what happens when GW stops bringing in new players because the prices are too high?

I got news for ya, that isn't going to happen.

The Electronic Games industry has been training youth for a decade now in the ways of pay to win. The economy is much better today than it was 10 years ago, and a lot of people have much more expendable money. In my area, 40K is outselling MtG currently in 2 of 4 stores.

Nah, wrong on that one, friend. I've been living in east asia for about 3 years now, and the price of GW minis is prohibitively high. God knows there's interest, but there's no established community. New blood almost doesn't exist. I think GW makes its cash out of 1. kids in parts of the world where it's a known thing dipping in and, probably most importantly, 2. proper, proper fans. They pulled a clever trick, way back in the day by telling customers that they need an [/i]army, and it works. Recently, they've been catering specifically to that audience - truescale marines, paints to help slog through unpainted backlog faster, background factions getting actual armies - but to have a real[i] future, they're gonna have to work a bit harder on expanding in a way that won't scare of people who aren't familiar, and don't have a local GW. Where I am, there's a lot of commotion about contrast paint, but I'll be damned if there are any actual players.

Where I lived we have people that buy without even care what the content they're buying, I'm not kidding, play Tau? Buy everything in the Tau section, including Start collecting sets and the kits in the SC set separately. I'm a friend with a painter so I see this type of customer quite a few time.



On the plus side more exceed cash mean more money into side games. (*cough* EPIC.. *cough*)

 Tyranid Horde wrote:
This may be pennies in the grand scheme of things, but how will the performance of Blood of the Phoenix have impacted their idea that people will pay more for less? If Necromunda goes the same way then maybe it's a sign for them to not increase prices so drastically?

It's good to see the company doing well though!

Edit: An Actual Englishman beat me to mentioning BotP, my fault for going afk

It's certainly a good question.

But....I'm not sure BotP and Necromunda are comparable outside of the rough price bracket.

BotP was rubbish value. Too little in there to really persuade many to buy it.

Necromunda? That's a load of terrain. Like, a load. It also seems to be a self contained game. Whilst too rich for my blood (don't need the rules, neither gang interests me, therefore await scenery's separate release), it has an appeal beyond that of BotP.

 Malika2 wrote:
IIRC last time it was mentioned GW made a ton of profit, about 90% was from videogame revenues. Not sure if that was true and/or still the case here.

No, that was something only imbeciles parroted. The last time GW raked a ton of profit 90% of the ROYALTIES were from PC games.


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 An Actual Englishman wrote:
The next 6 months will be interesting.

Interest seems to be waning, sales seem to be dropping (BotP still has stock) and in general there seem to be less players, not more.

No doubt the success (or not) of Sisters, and Slaves to Darkness will be key, not to mention PA.

Good news, but I wonder how long GW can sustain this growth.

I mean. Blood of the phoenix still has stock because they want me to pay 230 euros for fething hellions. Meanwhile feast of bones vanished from the spanish trading circuits within the day.

Feast of Bones also contained around 50% brand new models, and for a lower price point.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 Tyranid Horde wrote:
This may be pennies in the grand scheme of things, but how will the performance of Blood of the Phoenix have impacted their idea that people will pay more for less? If Necromunda goes the same way then maybe it's a sign for them to not increase prices so drastically?

It's good to see the company doing well though!

Edit: An Actual Englishman beat me to mentioning BotP, my fault for going afk

It's certainly a good question.

But....I'm not sure BotP and Necromunda are comparable outside of the rough price bracket.

BotP was rubbish value. Too little in there to really persuade many to buy it.

Necromunda? That's a load of terrain. Like, a load. It also seems to be a self contained game. Whilst too rich for my blood (don't need the rules, neither gang interests me, therefore await scenery's separate release), it has an appeal beyond that of BotP.

There’s not loads of terrain in the new Necromunda that’s why all the promo pictures show 2 boxes worth and a big scratch built centre piece, there are a lot of sprues in the box they just don’t actually make much terrain.

Which does indicate there is no problem with interest in GW, there was a problem with GW releasing a horrible box full of junk. I bet you if they packed 10 Banshees and...well, any other NEW eldar kit in it, it'd sell better. But that again touches upon GW and it's bizarre hate for Xenos in 40k which is another topic.

If you focus purely on 40k, I can see why you get the impression that the customer base might be shrinking, but the other sectors of the company are doing extremely well. Every AOS box set this year sold out in no time at all. If you look at tournament data there were more than double the number of AOS tournaments in the last six months than in the same period last year. There is no question that despite the awful start AOS should now be considered a considerable success for gw.
Underworlds and warcry have both been very successful.
With the likes of part works, space marine heroes and the Barnes and noble products gw has massively diversified their revenue streams.
They are very unlikely to have another crash like they did after lotr. Even if 40k drops off, they have enough other products that they won't take a massive hit.
International pricing is a major growth limiter though, especially here in Japan. Gw doesn't seem to realise that there hasn't been inflation here for almost 30 years. Price increases hurt us more than anywhere else.
The trouble is that there is no reason for them to re-examine prices if profits keep going up.

 An Actual Englishman wrote:
The next 6 months will be interesting.

Interest seems to be waning, sales seem to be dropping (BotP still has stock) and in general there seem to be less players, not more.

No doubt the success (or not) of Sisters, and Slaves to Darkness will be key, not to mention PA.

Good news, but I wonder how long GW can sustain this growth.

Depends what you mean by growth at this point they cannot cope with actually being successful they spent that long cruising under Kirby and pissing the profits away on very high dividends and nepotistic projects to funnel cash into Kirby’s back pocket that they let the infrastructure rot this made no difference when they only had to produce a handful of kits a quarter and any stuff that needed restocking but the current release schedule has shown there weaknesses.

I suspect they are going to partially swing back to the old GW way less sales but higher prices because being successful is way to much like real work.

So as for you question if by growth you mean increasing sales numbers and more players I don’t think there even going to try, if by growth you mean profit then oh boy yes there going to do whatever they can to keep the figures up. I would expect more box sets with less in them for higher prices all ltd edition and containing exclusive miniatures there going to ride the fomo train harder than most Kickstarter’s.

They will now be an annual bring your own lube box set due to the success of AT so they avoid a big AT sized hole in there profits year on year, the burden of an unexpected success. Unless the SoB launch falls flat on its face again then going forward I would expect any new or revamped armies to be done the same way expensive box of monopose miniatures and one of there laughable ltd edition codexs to bump the price right up. These will then feed into monopose SC sets to limit the interest vet players have in them also there cheaper to make so two birds there.

Prices will continue to rise monthly on new releases and periodically on everything else and will continue to rise until such a point as it starts to hurt the financials they all ready happily admit there gonna make “fans” wallets scream and people take that as a joke where I personally think it’s company policy

So what's actually responsible for sales? GW contrast paints?

No one's forcing anyone to buy GW products. I actually use colored primers and Army Painter washes to speed up my painting. I still think the boardgaming market's larger, anyway.

GW just reminds me of the comic book industry before it crashed. Everything is a limited edition #1 with 14 covers, while the quality of the product is not increasing in line with the prices. And with a 2 year lead time on new products, GW doesn’t have a lot of mobility to respond to changing market conditions.

And GW’s main audience is over 40. Won’t be long before they are over 50, then over 60. They still going to be buying expensive miniatures when their eyes go bad, their hands shake, and they start caring more about colonoscopies than the Tau? If they don’t bring in new, younger players, they are working on borrowed time. And they aren’t going to bring in younger players when their boxes cost as much as a game console.

GW is making record profits, but that’s covering up for an extremely unhealthy business. The comic book industry isn’t the only thing it reminds me of. It also reminds me of Warmachine at the height of its popularity.

I remember telling people that Warmachine was in a really bad place. It was openly hostile to new players, with poor quality control, and a bloated product line. And people told me, Warmachine is more popular than ever - heck, they are about to release a new edition!

It’s easy to see a toxic situation after the damage has been done, but it is when the profits are high that the damage is becoming malignant. And I’m telling you, GW is not in nearly as good a place as it looks right now. GW is like the Horus Heresy series - great for people who got in when it was less than a dozen books, but the series is getting old and new value us not being translated to people who haven’t read multiple dozens of book.

Chopstick wrote:

 posermcbogus wrote:

Togusa wrote:

 Sqorgar wrote:
Who knew whales were so profitable? But what happens when GW stops bringing in new players because the prices are too high?

I got news for ya, that isn't going to happen.

The Electronic Games industry has been training youth for a decade now in the ways of pay to win. The economy is much better today than it was 10 years ago, and a lot of people have much more expendable money. In my area, 40K is outselling MtG currently in 2 of 4 stores.

Nah, wrong on that one, friend. I've been living in east asia for about 3 years now, and the price of GW minis is prohibitively high. God knows there's interest, but there's no established community. New blood almost doesn't exist. I think GW makes its cash out of 1. kids in parts of the world where it's a known thing dipping in and, probably most importantly, 2. proper, proper fans. They pulled a clever trick, way back in the day by telling customers that they need an [/i]army, and it works. Recently, they've been catering specifically to that audience - truescale marines, paints to help slog through unpainted backlog faster, background factions getting actual armies - but to have a real[i] future, they're gonna have to work a bit harder on expanding in a way that won't scare of people who aren't familiar, and don't have a local GW. Where I am, there's a lot of commotion about contrast paint, but I'll be damned if there are any actual players.

Where I lived we have people that buy without even care what the content they're buying, I'm not kidding, play Tau? Buy everything in the Tau section, including Start collecting sets and the kits in the SC set separately. I'm a friend with a painter so I see this type of customer quite a few time.



On the plus side more exceed cash mean more money into side games. (*cough* EPIC.. *cough*)

Interesting. Whereabouts are you in Vietnam, and what is your community like? Out here, I think I'm the only white person involved in anything even remotely citadel related, and have had some pretty funny "Oh wise one, impart your great wisdom"-esq reactions just for being passingly familiar with modeling 30k. Most people in modelling out here are very blue collar (involved in heavy machinery industry, or else rice farmers), with little cash to splash, and pre-established interests in gundam, or historical modeling. I have to go all the way to Osaka for GW stuff (rare), and every time I have, I haven't encountered anyone non-Japanese in the hobby.