Games Workshop Share Discussion Threads

[shanklin] 20/9/2018 07:57

push n run

Fair comment albeit IIRC GAW are investing quite heavily in the business, in order to grow revenue and profits. So much of the cash they are generating will be being deployed to this end.

[push n run] 19/9/2018 20:34

I'm not sure that flat dividends indicate that the business is still growing strongly, Shanklin. Of course it is only Q1.

[nod] 19/9/2018 12:41

The last reference to Board expectations was given with the Results on 31 July: "the directors confirm that they have a reasonable expectation that the Group will be able to continue in operation "Good news then.

[mozy123] 19/9/2018 12:33

The GAW never gives any detail to trading updates. They are always one liners.

[shanklin] 19/9/2018 12:29

Everything other than the PH forecasts would appear to suggest the business is still growing strongly.

[braaf] 19/9/2018 12:23

Yes that would have been useful - is the board really forecasting a revenue this year lower than last year? £219m last year - £205m this year.

[robinnicolson] 19/9/2018 12:12

But what are the Board's expectations? Would have liked more detail in the update...

[mad foetus] 19/9/2018 12:12

Cheeky midday TU and dividend announcement!

[nod] 16/9/2018 22:55

It's good to see it is in China (Hong Kong) where growth potential must be good, despite the local skills in meticulously copying products and selling them at a fraction of the price.

[robinnicolson] 16/9/2018 21:09

Lease signed for the 500th store:

hxxp://www.warhammer-community.com/2018/09/15/15th-sept-500-storesgw-homepage-post-3/

[cockerhoop] 13/9/2018 07:45

PI,

Unfortunately this year's Agm is planned to be a shadow of its former self with only formal business and Q&A. They're aiming to wrap up by 11! I was still there at 2pm last year.

[panic investor] 13/9/2018 06:25

Usually a cracking good meal too !

[nod] 13/9/2018 00:02

The AGM should be an interesting one, with many smiling faces. I can't imagine anyone complaining. Also, Tom Kirby exits as a consultant at the AGM. Tom is still a major shareholder with 6.6%

I credit Tom with building GAW from a small operation with a mainly UK and European customer base into a global brand.

His signing of a licence for LOTR was expensive and seen as a risk at the time. His second major expansion was into the USA. He believed this was a major opportunity for GAW. He gave up his GAW role to live in Boston and give the USA his complete attention. Unfortunately, the GFC hit and he then spent many years having to shrink the USA retail network.

[cockerhoop] 12/9/2018 08:30

Completely agree the terminal sales in store should be allocated to the retail sales.My point was the importance of online was greater than the relatively modest mail order share within the results. I'll ask if the company knows the proportion of trade sales that are ultimately sold online at the AGM next week.As an aside the part works Issue 1 sold out pretty much everywhere in 2 days - unsurprising as it contained £20 of product. Lots bought by existing players though which isn't ideal and lots bought in bulk and then resold via eBay at a profit which is even worse.Hopefully it will settle down with future issues as the price increases content reduces with new players able to discover Warhammer.

[nod] 12/9/2018 00:05

I feel that GAW's allocation of in-store terminal sales to the store rather than to the Online channel is the correct allocation. It's obviously the store that generates an in-store sale. It's more likely that the Retail channel loses a lot of store sales to Online. This occurs when its regular customers buy products online from their home computer or mobile device. .

[cockerhoop] 11/9/2018 10:35

My point is that ordering via a terminal instore is effectively an online (click&collect) order as you are generally ordering items not stocked in store using GAW mail order processes for store delivery.

I'm not sure the pizza analogy is accurate as the pizza outlet will have all the ingredients/products on site.

My general point though is that online sales are far greater than the Mail Order component of the financial results.

[nod] 11/9/2018 10:18

I don't get your point there. The in-store terminals are just automation to make the business more efficient (one man stores) and reduce inventory costs by only stocking a small range of best sellers. It remains to be seen whether this service model is sustained in leaner years. I now place a pizza order on a touchscreen rather than shouting at a microphone. Today, a person still hands me my order but I'm sure the takeaways will soon by making that final point of service human-free. I agree with the point about indies offering discounts and the impact that may have on GAW's own sales. I believe this is a relatively recent thing. I'm pretty sure that prices were consistent a few years ago.

[cockerhoop] 11/9/2018 08:35

Should also be noted that if you're buying online you're more likely to buy from an online Independent store than from GAW direct as the price is likely to be 15-20% cheaper.Whilst the premium in store can be justified (to the consumer) by the value added hobby centre nature of the shop online sales are likely to be much more price sensitive. Why would you pay a higher price for identical service?This tends to obscure the importance of online within GAW figures imo.

[cockerhoop] 11/9/2018 08:26

The online sales figures also exclude sales through the online terminal within GAW stores which are generally items beyond the limited store range. These items would be ordered online if the store terminals didn't exist.

[nod] 11/9/2018 01:45

Ken Wotton refers to the Online threat. There is no online threat for GAW as it is the manufacturer and controls all of its sales channels. Online is a threat to retailers competing against each other - often on price. Online is a boon for manufacturers who can sell direct to customers. GAW makes most of its profits selling products through two channels: through its own web sites and through its independent (trade) network of over 4100 stores around the globe, many of which have their own independent web store.

GAW's own 489 stores usually make a small loss but last FY contributed around 7% (6.7m) to total operating profits. GAW sees its own stores as being essential to recruit and sustain the hobby in key countries. It also relies on its network of 4100 independent retailers to support the hobby. Indies are different in that they will also sell other models and games of a similar ilk, but they also offer hobby centres for GW customers (albeit not exclusive to GW products).

Online sales have grown significantly but still represent about 20% of our total sales as they have done for a few years now. This would indicate that online is not the driver of our success but is a successful sales channel.

This online sales figure doesn't include online sales by the independent retailers, which are included in the Trade sales. While we don't have a handle on this, I would guess that online trade sales have grown significantly since GAW relaxed its constraints.

[cockerhoop] 10/9/2018 22:21

I think Ken fails to pick up on the true reasons for the GAW resurgence - the massively improved customer engagement, the spectacular release schedule and the growth in supply to Independent retailers, along with leveraging the IP (Royalty Income).

Much more important than any Warhammer store changes imo.

[norbert colon] 10/9/2018 19:59

https://www.livingbridge.com/equity-funds/latest/opinion/ken-wotton-speaks-to-city-wire-about-a-games-workshop-recovery

[cockerhoop] 10/9/2018 14:23

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