The rise and rise of Games Workshop

With its elevation to the FTSE 100 the Nottingham-based Warhammer games maker is a true British success story.

With the LSE suffering its biggest net outflow of companies since 2009 over the past 12 months, London markets need some love this Christmas.

And there will be some cheer this week with the elevation of a bona fide home-grown success story, Games Workshop (LON:GAW), maker of the fantasy Warhammer world, to the FTSE 100. Shares in the company, proudly based in the midlands, have surged nearly 40% this year, touching a record high of 14.5p, taking its market cap to more than £4.5bn.

GAW is a slow burner that has ignited in spectacular fashion over the past decade. Floated in 1994 the company’s stock price grew little more than fourfold over the first 18 years of its listing, and crashed in 2007 after profit warnings. But its value has soared some 2,700% over the past decade, annual sales quadrupling and pre-tax profits surging from £16.6m to £203m. GAW’s most recent trading update expected revenue in the six months to December to rise to £260m (2023/24: £235.6m), licensing revenue to climb 150% to £30m (2023/24: £13.0m), and profit before tax to rise to not less than £120m (2023/24: £96.1m). Peel Hunt estimates the debt-free company has paid £428.8m in dividends since 2021.