Games Workshop Shares Surged 13% on Update, Dividend Payout

The Games Workshop Group PLC (LON: GAW) surged 12.98% after announcing that trading for the three months to 27 August 2023 was ahead of the Board's expectations for the quarter with core revenue of about £121 million compared to £106 million in the previous year.

The company estimates that its pretax profits will come in at £57 million compared to £39 million in the 2022/23 fiscal year. The upbeat revenues and profits were driven by healthy growth across all channels.

The board also expressed caution regarding the upbeat numbers, insisting that it is still early in its financial year and that anything could happen in the forthcoming months. The company promised to issue another update in due course. 

The Games Workshop board also declared a dividend of 50 pence per share, taking dividends declared so far in the current 2023/2024 financial year to £1.95 per share versus the £1.20 dividend per share paid out in fiscal 2022/2023. 

The higher dividend payout aligns with the company’s policy of distributing all the surplus cash it makes during the current year. The dividend will be paid out on 3 November 2023 to shareholders on the register as of 29 September 2023. The ex-dividend date is 28 September 2023. 

Shareholders can re-invest their dividends via the company’s plan by 13 October 2023. This is not the first time Games Workshop has raised its dividend payout driven by upbeat earnings and revenues this year. 

The miniature wargames manufacturer also raised its dividend on 25 July 2023 after reporting higher annual revenue and profits. The company’s revenues rose to £470.8 million in the year to May 28, up 14% from the £414.8 million recorded a year earlier. However, these profits were not for the current fiscal year, which is off to a great start. 

The company’s trade revenue rose to £248.0 million from £214.3 million, retail revenue jumped to£106.4 million from £87.2 million, and online revenue rose to £91.0 million from £85.3 million. However, licensing revenue fell to £25.4 million from £28.0 million.

Games Workshop (GAW) share price. 

The Games Workshop (GAW) share price surged 12.98% to trade at 11665.0p from Thursday’s closing price of 10325.0p.