Games Workshop to open new stores in US, Europe and Asia this year after Space Marine 2 success
The group cheered a record 2025 on Tuesday with pre-tax profits soaring by nearly 30 per cent to £262.8million, beating guidance of £255million, as sales jumped 19.6 per cent on a constant currency basis to £628.7million.
It came as licencing revenues jumped from £31million to £52.5million after Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, a third-person shooter video game launched last year, performed 'well above' the group's expectations with seven million copies sold.
Games Workshop is best known in the UK for its tabletop miniatures and high street stores across the country.
But it has increasingly moved into video games and books, and a film and TV deal with Amazon that was finalised last December and is expected to be fronted by Superman actor Henry Cavill.
Games Workshop cautioned that the next 12 months would suffer tough comparisons owing to the success of Space Marine 2, while the group thinks tariffs could impact profit before tax by around £12million.
It said tariffs would be 'dealt with in our normal pragmatic way'.
Nevertheless, Games Workshop outlined plans to boost manufacturing capacity and said it aims to open around 35 new stores globally over the next year.
These are set to be focused on North American, continental Europe and Asia.
The Nottingham-based firm's chief executive Kevin Rountree, CEO of Games Workshop said: 'After a record year, we remain focused on delivering our operational plans and working tirelessly to overcome any significant obstacles that get in the way.
'We will continue to give ourselves the freedom to make some mistakes, constantly working on improvements in product quality and manufacturing innovation.
'Despite our recent successes we will never take our hobbyists' support for granted.'
Games Workshop declared and paid dividends worth 520p per share last year, up from 420p in the previous 12 months.
Games Workshop shares were up 5.6 per cent to 16,110p approaching midday, having more than doubled over the last three years.
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