Games Workshop re-ups profits forecast as lockdown sales soar

Lockdown winner Games Workshop further upped its profits forecast today as the booming toy retailer declared a 60p per share dividend. 

In a bullish half-year trading update, the Warhammer figurine maker said its interim results for the six months to the end of November would show a pre-tax profit of not less than £90 million, compared with £59 million in the same period last year. 

It beats an update issued in early November predicting at least £80 million in pre-tax profits for the period, which saw the company's stock market value reach nearly £4 billion. 

At the time the FTSE-250 company said the growth had been driven by  "driven by healthy growth in our online and trade channels". 

The firm, which opened its first store in 1978 and holds the European rights to cult favourite role-play game Dungeons & Dragons, said it saw sales total around £185 million in the half, up from £148 million in the period in 2019. 

In its update the company said: "We are delighted with the global team performance in the first half given the back drop of major projects and some government restrictions."

The shares rose 345p, or 3.5%, to 10,220p, on Monday morning.