TIDMGAW
RNS Number : 1863F
Games Workshop Group PLC
26 July 2016
PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT
GAMES WORKSHOP GROUP PLC
26 July 2016
ANNUAL REPORT
Games Workshop Group PLC ("Games Workshop" or the "Group")
announces its annual report for the year to 29 May 2016.
Highlights:
Year to Year to
29 May 31 May
2016 2015
GBP000 GBP000
Revenue 118,069 119,132
Revenue at constant currency* 118,192 119,132
Operating profit - pre-royalties
receivable 10,921 14,979
Royalties receivable 5,939 1,498
Operating profit 16,860 16,477
Profit before taxation 16,948 16,585
Cash generated from operations 26,782 25,579
Earnings per share 42.1p 38.3p
Dividends per share declared
in the year 40p 52p
Kevin Rountree, CEO of Games Workshop said:
"We made progress in what was another busy and rewarding year.
We made progress on the priorities I set for 2015/16, including
store openings and broadening our product range. These initiatives
will remain key areas of focus through 2016/17.
After a disappointing December we carried out a thorough review
of our operational plans and, thanks to a great team effort, we
bounced back with four out of five months of profitable sales
growth.
We have again honoured our commitment to distribute genuinely
surplus cash to our shareholders. That commitment isn't going to
change.
We are confident we can achieve the priorities I have set for
2016/17.
The board continues to believe that the prospects for the
business are good."
For further information,
please contact:
Games Workshop Group PLC 0115 900 4003
Kevin Rountree, CEO
Rachel Tongue, Group finance
director
Investor relations website investor.games-workshop.com
General website www.games-workshop.com
The information contained within this announcement is deemed by
the Company to constitute inside information as stipulated under
the Market Abuse Regulation.
The full 2016 annual report can be downloaded from the investor
relations website at investor.games-workshop.com
*Constant currency revenue is calculated by comparing results in
the underlying currencies for 2016 and 2015, both converted at the
2015 average exchange rates.
STRATEGIC REPORT
Strategy and objectives
Games Workshop's ambitions remain clear: to make the best
fantasy miniatures in the world and sell them globally at a profit,
and it intends doing so forever. This statement includes all the
key elements of what we do and why we do it that way. All of our
decision making is focussed on the long term success of Games
Workshop, not short term gains.
Let me go through it part by part:
The first element - we make high quality miniatures. We
understand that what we make is not for everyone, so to recruit and
re-recruit customers we are absolutely focussed on making our
models the best in the world. In order to continue to do that
forever and to deliver a decent return to our owners, we sell them
for the price that we believe the investment in quality is
worth.
The second element is that we make fantasy miniatures based in
our imaginary worlds. This gives us control over the imagery and
styles we use and ownership of the intellectual property. Aside
from our core business, we are constantly looking to grow our
royalty income from opportunities to use our IP in other
markets.
The third element is the global nature of our business. We seek
out our customers all over the world. We believe that our customers
carry our Hobby gene and to find them we apply our tried and tested
approach of recruiting customers in our own stores, by offering a
fantastic customer experience. Our retail business is supported by
our own mail order store (it has the full range of our product) and
our independent stockist accounts and trade outlets across the
world. These independent accounts do a great job supporting our
customers in parts of the world where we either have not yet opened
one of our stores or where it is not commercially viable for us to
have one of our stores. The long term goal is to have both channels
(retail and trade) growing in harmony. We will always have more
independent accounts than our own stores. Our strategy is to grow
our business through geographic spread growing all of the three
complementary channels.
The fourth element is being focussed on cash. By delivering a
good cash return every year we can continue to innovate, surprise
and delight our loyal existing customers and new customers with
great product. To be around forever we also need to invest in both
long term capital and short term maintenance projects every year,
pay our staff what they have earned for the value they contribute
and deliver surplus cash to our shareholders. Our dedication and
focus should ensure we deliver on time and within our agreed cash
limits.
We measure our long term success by seeking a high return on
investment. In the short term, we will measure our success on our
ability to grow sales whilst maintaining our core business
operating profit margin. The way we go about implementing this
strategy is to recruit the best staff we can by looking for the
appropriate attitudes and behaviour each job we do requires and
identifying the value that job brings. It is also important that
everyone we employ has a real desire to learn and has a great
attitude to change. Our Academy offers all of our staff both
personal development and management skills training. It is also
worth noting it's not what you know at Games Workshop it's how much
you contribute to our success that we value.
We continue to believe there are great opportunities for growth,
particularly in North America and Northern Europe.
Business model and structure
We design, manufacture, distribute and sell our fantasy
miniatures and related products. These are fantasy miniatures from
our own Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer: Age of Sigmar universes.
Our factory, main distribution centre and back office support
functions are all based in Nottingham.
We are an international business centrally run from our HQ in
Nottingham, with 72% of our sales coming from outside the UK.
Design
Employing 181 people, the design studio in Nottingham creates
all the IP and the miniatures, artwork, games and publications that
we sell. In 2015/16 we invested GBP7.5 million in the studio
(including software costs) with a further GBP2.2 million spent on
tooling for new plastic miniatures. We are committed to a similar
level of investment every year.
Manufacture
We are proud to manufacture our product in Nottingham. It's
where we started and where we intend to stay. We are currently
working on a significant project, with a leading UK software
supplier, to upgrade our core IT systems that interface with our
manufacturing equipment and systems.
Distribute
All of our product is initially distributed from our warehouse
facility in Nottingham. This facility supplies our two hubs in
Memphis, Tennessee and Sydney, Australia and either directly to our
trade accounts and retail stores or via a third party carrier. Our
project to upgrade the IT infrastructure and software for the
warehouse that supports our mail order store based in Nottingham
will be delivered in the Autumn of 2016/17.
Sell
We sell via three channels, our own stores 'Retail', third party
independent retailers 'Trade' and our 'Mail order' web store.
Retail - provides the focus for the Hobby in their areas. They
only stock Games Workshop product. They are where we recruit the
majority of our new customers. To do so the stores don't offer the
full range of our product, just new release product and the
appropriate extended range. At the year end we had 451 Games
Workshop stores in 20 countries. Our stores contributed 41% of the
year's sales. We have 355 one man stores, small sites, each one
staffed by only one store manager. We also have 96 multi-man
stores, which are constantly reviewed to ensure they remain
profitable. If not, they will be closed and replaced with one man
stores.
Trade - we sell to third party retailers under closely
controlled terms and conditions. They help us sell our products
around the world and importantly in areas where we don't have our
own stores. Independent retailers are an integral part of our
business model; Games Workshop strives to support those outlets
which help to build the Hobby community in their local area. The
bulk of these sales are made via our telesales teams based in
Memphis and Nottingham. We also have small teams in Sydney, Tokyo
and Shanghai. In 2015/16 we had 3,800 independent retailers (2015:
3,700) in 55 countries. We have successfully introduced over the
last few years a stockist programme which is designed to sell the
right amount of stock into every account in line with their store
format and performance. This programme is reviewed annually. The
intention is that we stock all of our stockist accounts with our
best sellers. We strive to deliver excellent service, operating in
18 languages covering all time zones. 38% of our sales came from
sales to independent retailers in the year reported.
Mail order - the mail order store allows enthusiasts full access
to all Games Workshop products. It is run centrally from
Nottingham. It accounted for 21% of total sales in 2015/16. All of
our stores also have a web store terminal that allows our retail
customers access to the full range.
Structure
We control the business centrally from Nottingham; it is where
the people with experience and knowledge of running our niche
business work. I have put in place a flat structure: the people
with senior responsibility who make all of the big decisions report
directly to me. My team is split into three parts: sales,
operations and merchandising and marketing.
My channel sales structure comprises retail, trade and mail
order. This structure is made up of four key territory retail sales
managers in the UK, North America, Continental Europe and Australia
and New Zealand. We also have a global trade manager and a global
mail order manager along with a sales manager for Asia. During the
year I appointed a new global merchandising and marketing
manager.
My operations and support structure includes a finance director
for Games Workshop who is responsible for accounts, compliance and
legal duties. We have a product and supply manager who is
responsible for our factory, logistics and design studios (Citadel
and Forge World). He also manages our three main distribution hubs
in Nottingham, Memphis and Sydney. A personnel manager and our
Academy personal development and skills training ensure we take our
people recruitment and development seriously. All of our senior
managers attend management skills training, as a team, three times
per year.
Key performance indicators
The board and management team use a number of key performance
indicators to provide a consistent method of analysing performance,
in addition to allowing the board to benchmark performance against
our forecast. The key performance indicators utilised by the board
can be split into key financial performance indicators and key
non-financial performance indicators.
Our key financial performance indicators are:
Moving Annual Total ('MAT') sales growth by channel
Measures the sales growth achieved in each of our channels on a
rolling 12 month basis.
MAT Group gross margin
Measures the gross profit achieved on sales after taking account
of the direct costs and depreciation of manufacturing equipment and
shipping our product to customers/stores on a rolling 12 month
basis.
MAT core business profit
Measures gross profit less operating expenses on a 12 month
rolling basis, before royalty income.
Number of own stores by territory
Measures the number of our own stores which is an indicator of
our global reach.
MAT number of ordering stockist accounts by territory
Measures the number of trade outlets that have ordered from us
in the last six months. It is an indicator of our global reach and
the health of our trade account base.
Return on capital
The ratio of operating profit before royalty income against
capital employed, as a percentage.
Our key non-financial performance indicators are:
Product quality
This is an indicator of the effectiveness of our design studio
and our continuous improvement in design to manufacture. We measure
this by looking at sell through. If the product is great we sell a
lot, if not we sell very few.
Outstanding customer service
This is an indicator of the effectiveness and efficiency of the
service experience customers get in our stores and the time it
takes us to resolve a customer query made to our customer service
teams. The former is measured by the number of complaints I receive
- very few - and the latter is tracked by five micro KPIs. Our
approach is that 'the customer is always right' and we do our
utmost to resolve successfully any issues.
Shareholder value
We believe shareholder value is created, primarily, by not
destroying it. We have no intention to acquire other companies, nor
to dispose of any of those we own.
We return our surplus cash to our owners and try to do so in
ever increasing amounts.
Review of the year
We made progress in what was another busy and rewarding year. We
started the financial year off with a huge product launch;
Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, one of the biggest changes we've ever
made to one of our core universes. Our design to manufacture was
outstanding, over-delivering in terms of original concept art to
final manufactured models, producing some of the best models we've
ever made. The simplified rules, supporting the models for those
who like to play, made it much easier to get started. We learnt
some valuable lessons during the year on how to deliver product
system changes on this scale and as we released more of the range
in the second half of the year, we finished the year with sales of
Warhammer: Age of Sigmar at a higher rate than Warhammer has
enjoyed for several years.
After a disappointing December we carried out a thorough review
of our operational plans and, thanks to a great team effort, we
bounced back with four out of five months of profitable sales
growth. Our reported sales for the year showed marginal declines in
retail (-1.3%) and mail order (-1.8%) and growth in trade
(+0.1%).
Gross margin was maintained in the period (2016: 68.3%; 2015:
68.9%). We continued with our policy of only increasing the prices
of our new releases (approximately 30% of our sales) to reflect the
necessary investment in our product offer and the quality we have
built into these new releases. The annual impact of this increase
on our UK RRP price list is an average increase of 3%.
Costs have increased in the year, mainly as a result of our
store opening programme and the full year effect of the
depreciation of the investment in our visitor centre which opened
in April 2015.
Update on priorities for 2015/16
In the year we focussed on the following initiatives designed to
improve our performance in our existing stores and support future
store openings:
Staff recruitment
In November 2015 I hired a global recruitment consultant. She
has been kicking the tyres and carrying out a root and branch
review of our teams and our processes. In January we piloted some
of the recommendations in North America and recruited a new small
team. It's early days but we are pleased with the results. We still
require all candidates to write us a great letter telling us why
they want the job; we have now complemented this with a direct and
online approach to find good staff. The changes are being rolled
out across the other retail territories as well as in our global
trade teams in 2016/17.
One man stores
The timing of the changes to recruitment in North America
coincided with a small experienced project team being seconded from
the UK to North America to support the existing team there in
delivering two objectives.
They delivered both objectives. We now have a small retail sales
HQ in Dallas and have successfully opened 16 stores (net) this
year, taking our total to 100 stores. More importantly, we have
improved our processes to allow us to open a further 20 each year.
Combined with the improved recruitment team in Dallas we are now
more confident that we can deliver the potential of Games Workshop
in North America.
We focussed on the following initiatives to deliver an
improvement in our product offer, our customer service and how we
promote our product range:
Range
During the year, I carried out a review of our product strategy.
As a direct result, we now offer our models at a broader range of
price points. We have piloted a small 'Start Collecting' range of
models that have sold well. We have also introduced some stand
alone high value box games, a simple gateway into Games Workshop
product; they too have been a hit. We will continue to seek to
improve our product offer and be more customer focussed in
2016/17.
Merchandising and marketing
We are increasingly focussed on promoting our product range
better on a global scale. To assist me I recruited a senior global
merchandising and marketing manager in March 2016. He is
responsible for supporting our product and supply and sales teams
to ensure our stores make the best use of the space that they have
and that we back our three channels with the appropriate product
and marketing support.
We piloted the following initiatives in the year; I will update
you further in 2016/17:
Asia
After overcoming the burden of paper work and complexity of
opening businesses in Asia we now have four new sales territory
managers in Asia; in Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan and Malaysia in
addition to our existing business in China. They will grow Games
Workshop profitably by opening stockist accounts and our own
stores.
High footfall locations
We have 96 multi-man format stores and 355 one man stores. Due
to the timing of the lease breaks the opportunity arose to pilot
some larger multi-man format stores uniquely placed to service a
greater numbers of customers.
Our Tottenham Court Road store, London, is on target to be our
highest transaction and sales value store. It has delivered its
promises. The other pilots in Sydney and Copenhagen delivered their
promises too. These successes leave us with some format options to
deploy when the opportunities arise. Our standard format will
continue to be our one man store model.
New business opportunities
To broaden our reach without distracting our core channels, we
are piloting a small range of products in new markets. We launched
a dispenser of eight products called Battle for Vedros in toy shops
in North America in June 2016 and will launch a small range called
Build and Paint globally in modelling and toy shops later in
2016/17.
Finally, to assist me in managing our broader commercial
opportunities, I have created a new business development team to
manage our broader non-core activities. This team will be
responsible for sales and profit growth of our non-core activities
which include: licensing, digital, export, non-strategic trade
accounts, book trade, magazine, and appropriate mass market
opportunities. The results are shown under non-core in the
segmental analysis.
Licensing
The team have had an exciting year, probably our best year to
date, with some successful launches: Bloodbowl 2, Warhammer: End
Times - Vermintide, Warhammer 40,000: Freeblade and the launch on
27 May 2016 of the real time strategy game, Total War:
Warhammer.
Reported income is split as follows: 78% PC and console games,
15% mobile and 7% other.
Projects
In the year we had three major projects being implemented:
-- European ERP - enterprise resource planning (core back office
systems) - replacement. This project is more complex and costly
than we had originally stated and will now launch in 2018 at an
estimated cost of GBP6.0 million (2015 estimate: GBP4.5
million).
-- Forge World mail order store. This was delivered on time in
August 2015 and within cash limits.
-- Mail order warehouse system replacement. It is estimated to
cost GBP0.9 million and will be implemented in 2016/17.
Return on capital*
A key measure of our performance is return on capital. During
the year our return on capital fell from 40% to 27%. This was
driven by both a decline in operating profit before royalty income
and an increase in capital employed.
Sales
Reported sales fell by 0.9% to GBP118.1 million for the year. On
a constant currency basis, sales were down by 0.8% from GBP119.1
million to GBP118.2 million; split by channel this comprised:
retail GBP48.9 million (2015: GBP49.1 million), trade GBP44.1
million (2015: GBP44.4 million) and mail order GBP25.2 million
(2015: GBP25.6 million).
Operating profit
Core business operating profit (operating profit before royalty
income) fell by GBP4.1 million to GBP10.9 million (2015: GBP15.0
million). On a constant currency basis, core business operating
profit decreased by GBP3.1 million to GBP11.9 million. This was
driven by a decline in our underlying performance in core retail
and mail order.
Costs have been managed well. They have increased by GBP2.5
million in the year mainly as result of investments for the long
term; GBP1.9 million in our store opening programme, GBP0.4 million
in a new sales team in Asia and the additional depreciation of our
visitor centre which opened in April 2015.
Capital employed
Average capital employed* increased by GBP1.7 million to GBP40.2
million. The book value of tangible and intangible assets increased
by GBP2.3 million whilst inventories increased by GBP0.5 million
and current liabilities increased by GBP1.0 million.
Cash generation
During the year, the Group's core operating activities generated
GBP19.5 million of cash after tax payments (2015: GBP20.7 million).
The Group also received cash of GBP4.7 million in respect of
royalties in the year (2015: GBP2.6 million). After purchases of
tangible and intangible assets and product development costs of
GBP12.7 million (2015: GBP12.4 million) and dividends of GBP12.8
million (2015: GBP16.6 million) there were net funds at the year
end of GBP11.8 million (2015: GBP12.6 million).
Investments in assets
This is what we have been spending your money on:
2016 2015
GBPmillion GBPmillion
Shop fits for new and
existing stores 1.8 0.8
Production equipment and
tooling 2.6 3.0
Computer equipment and
software 3.5 1.6
Lenton site including
the new visitor centre 0.1 2.4
----------- -----------
Total capital additions 8.0 7.8
=========== ===========
In 2015/16 we invested GBP1.8 million in shop fits: 48 new
stores and 20 refurbishments. We also invested GBP2.6 million in
tooling, milling and injection moulding machines. The investment in
computer software relates to the new Forge World web store as well
as the initial work on the new ERP system and mail order warehouse
system replacement. Capital investment is expected to be higher
than depreciation and amortisation over the next few years as we
upgrade our core back office systems in Nottingham.
Dividends
We followed our principle of returning truly surplus cash to
shareholders. Dividends of 40 pence per share (2015: 52p) were paid
during the year (GBP12.8 million; 2015: GBP16.6 million).
Royalty income
Royalty income increased in the period by GBP4.4 million to
GBP5.9 million. This was due to the strong performances of Total
War: Warhammer and Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide.
Taxation
The tax rate for the year was 20.4% (2015: 26.1%). We continue
to expect a rate above that for business activities based solely in
the UK, due to higher overseas tax rates.
Sales by channel
41% (2015: 41%) of sales were made through our own stores, 38%
(2015: 38%) of sales were to independent retailers and 21% (2015:
21%) were mail order.
Retail
Store openings and closures during the year
Number of stores Number of stores Number of one Number of one
at May 2015 Opened Closed at May 2016 man stores at man stores at
May 2016 May 2015
UK 142 9 (3) 148 111 108
North America 84 19 (3) 100 86 72
Europe 145 13 (9) 149 113 105
Australia 43 3 - 46 38 36
Asia 4 4 - 8 7 3
------------------ --------- --------- ------------------- ------------------ ------------------
418 48 (15) 451 355 324
================== ========= ========= =================== ================== ==================
We opened 48 new stores in the year including 7 relocated
stores. These new stores generated GBP2.1 million of sales and made
a loss of GBP0.1 million. Due to the under performance of some of
our new stores in Continental Europe, we have paused any new store
openings in this territory for 2016/17. Our main focus for store
openings will be North America. This will allow us to focus on
improving our existing store performance.
Retail sales fell by 1.3 % in the year (-0.4% at constant
currency). Our underlying performance was -4.4%, which was mostly
offset by the contribution from 33 net new stores and our new
visitor centre delivering 100% growth.
Our underlying performance in our own stores to January 2016
wasn't good enough. I made some changes in our in-country retail
support structure to address the decline. Our flat management
structure did not support the complexity of managing 149 stores
across 14 countries in Continental Europe. In January 2016 we moved
to a country based solution. We now have four territory managers;
Germany/Scandinavia, Netherlands, France and Spain/Italy. We are
also piloting five training stores in North America. These training
stores are run as profitable stores. To reduce travel time and cost
we now send our new recruits for their initial training to one of
these stores.
We are launching a new skills based training programme at our
August 2016 global retail workshops.
Trade
Sales increased by 0.1% during the year (-0.7% at constant
currency). Our new trade team for accounts in the UK and
Continental Europe has settled in well and made some progress in
the year. Sales in North America were broadly in line with last
year. We have also updated our trade product range in June 2016 to
ensure we provide our stockist accounts with our best sellers.
Mail order
Sales fell by 1.8% (-1.6% at constant currency). Sales of our
Forge World range grew by 28% offset by a 12% decline in our
Citadel range. In the first half of 2016/17 we will be making a
change to our home page; removing complexity and adding a deeper
introduction to our worlds. We are committed to continuous
investment in our web store shopping experience.
During the year we successfully migrated our web data centre to
a new location in North America.
Treasury
The objective of our treasury operation is the cost effective
management of financial risk. The relationship with the Group's
bank is managed centrally. It operates within a range of board
approved policies. No transactions of a speculative nature are
permitted.
Funding and liquidity risk
The Group pays for its operations entirely from our cash
flow.
Interest rate risk
Net interest receivable for the year (excluding unwinding of
discounts on provisions) was GBP90,000 (2015: GBP108,000).
Foreign exchange
Our big currency exposures are the euro and US dollar:
euro US dollar
2016 2015 2016 2015
Year end rate used for the balance sheet 1.32 1.39 1.46 1.53
Average rate used for earnings 1.35 1.31 1.49 1.58
The net impact in the year of these exchange rate fluctuations
on our operating profit was a reduction of GBP0.6 million (2015:
reduction of GBP2.5 million).
Priorities for 2016/17
As part of our overall strategy, three key initiatives will be
prioritised in 2016/17. These are designed to deliver sales growth
whilst maintaining our operating profit margin.
Firstly, staff recruitment.
Globally we recruit hundreds of people every year. Building on
the progress we made last year we are updating our recruitment web
site, our company branding across all other social media platforms
and creating a site to enable us to welcome and commence induction
prior to new recruits starting with us. These improvements will
also give us a global dashboard of recruitment metrics to help us
develop and train our global recruitment teams and processes.
Secondly, we will continue to review our product range and
offer.
We will be reviewing our entry level 'getting started' product
range and in store merchandising. Currently all of our own stores
carry the same retail range. We will be looking at a matrix
approach of broadening our product range in our higher volume
stores and optimising our product range in some of our smaller
stores. We will also continue to invest in core IP with exciting
product launches planned throughout 2016/17.
Thirdly, we will continue to focus on recruiting new customers
and retaining our existing customers for longer. The aim is to:
1) Open more of our own stores, mostly in our one man store
format. My goal is to open 20 stores (net) in 2016/17, subject to
the continued improvement of our existing stores.
2) Open more stockist trade accounts using our stockist
strategy. This will be based on our well established terms and
conditions, selling independent accounts our best selling products
and, where appropriate, the extended range.
Risks and uncertainties
The board has overall responsibility for ensuring risk is
appropriately managed across the Group. The top five risks to the
Group are reviewed at each board meeting. The risks are rated as to
their business impact and their likelihood of occurring. In
addition, the Group has a disaster recovery plan to ensure ongoing
operations are maintained in all circumstances. The principal risks
identified in 2015/16 are discussed below. These risks are not
intended to be an extensive analysis of all risks that may arise
but more importantly are the ones that could cause business
interruption in the year ahead.
ERP change - as discussed above we are changing our core ERP
system in the UK. This is a complicated project with the risk of
widespread business disruption if it is not implemented well. It is
being implemented and managed by a strong internal project team and
specialist ERP software consultants.
Store manager recruitment - this comprises both recruitment of
managers for new stores as well as replacing poor performing
managers. Retail is our primary method of recruiting new customers
and so we need great managers in all our stores. We discuss our
approach as to how we are managing this risk in the earlier section
on staff recruitment.
Supply chain - as discussed above we are currently changing our
mail order warehouse system. This is part of an ongoing programme
of continuous improvement for these warehouse systems. As with any
system change there are risks associated with the transition. In
line with our ERP project, we have a strong internal project team
and are utilising specialist supply chain software consultants.
Range management - as discussed above we are reviewing our range
to ensure that we are exploring all opportunities. The risk is that
we don't fully exploit all the opportunities that are available to
us. Our approach to managing this risk is discussed earlier in the
section on range.
Distractions - this is anything else that gets in the way of us
delivering our goals.
We do not consider that we have material solvency or liquidity
risks. We also feel that it is too early to tell what the effects
of the recent EU referendum vote will be on Games Workshop.
In my opinion the greatest risk is the same one that we repeat
each year, namely, management. So long as we have the right people
in the right jobs we will be fine. Problems will arise if the board
allows egos and private agendas to rule. I will do my utmost to
ensure that this does not happen on my watch.
Summary
We are working together as one great Games Workshop team and I
believe the progress we have made in the second half demonstrates
we have built some solid foundations for the year ahead.
We have again honoured our commitment to distribute genuinely
surplus cash to our shareholders. That commitment isn't going to
change.
We are confident we can achieve the priorities I have set for
2016/17. I will keep you appropriately informed.
The board continues to believe that the prospects for the
business are good.
Kevin Rountree
CEO
25 July 2016
Statement of directors' responsibilities
The directors confirm that this condensed consolidated financial
information has been prepared in accordance with IFRSs and that the
management report herein includes a fair review of the information
required by DTR 4.2.7 and DTR 4.2.8, namely:
-- an indication of important events that have occurred during
the year and their impact on the condensed set of financial
statements, and a description of the principal risks and
uncertainties; and
-- material related-party transactions in the year and any
material changes in the related-party transactions described in the
last annual report.
A list of all current directors is maintained on the investor
relations website at investor.games-workshop.com.
By order of the board
Kevin Rountree
CEO
25 July 2016
Rachel Tongue
Group finance director
25 July 2016
*We use average capital employed to take account of the
significant fluctuation in working capital which occurs as the
business builds both inventories and trade receivables in the
pre-Christmas trading period. Return is defined as pre-exceptional
operating profit before royalty income, and the average capital
employed is adjusted by deducting assets and adding back
liabilities in respect of cash, borrowings, exceptional provisions,
deferred royalty income, taxation and dividends.
CONSOLIDATED INCOME STATEMENT
Year Year
ended ended
29 May 31 May
2016 2015
Notes GBP000 GBP000
Revenue 2 118,069 119,132
Cost of sales (37,438) (36,988)
---------- ----------
Gross profit 80,631 82,144
Operating expenses 2 (69,710) (67,207)
Other operating income
- royalties receivable 5,939 1,498
Exceptional items 3 - 42
---------- ----------
Operating profit 2 16,860 16,477
Finance income 93 109
Finance costs (5) (1)
---------- ----------
Profit before taxation 16,948 16,585
Income tax expense 5 (3,452) (4,328)
---------- ----------
Profit attributable
to owners of the
parent 13,496 12,257
====== ======
Year Year
ended ended
29 May 31 May
2016 2015
Basic earnings per
ordinary share 6 42.1p 38.3p
Diluted earnings
per ordinary share 6 42.0p 38.3p
Basic earnings per
ordinary share -
pre-exceptional items 6 42.1p 38.2p
Diluted earnings
per ordinary share
- pre-exceptional
items 6 42.0p 38.1p
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
Year ended Year
ended
29 May 2016 31 May
2015
GBP000 GBP000
Profit attributable to owners
of the parent 13,496 12,257
Other comprehensive income/(expense)
Items that may be subsequently
reclassified to profit or
loss
Exchange differences on translation
of foreign operations 485 (473)
---------- ----------
Other comprehensive income/(expense)
for the period 485 (473)
---------- ----------
Total comprehensive income
attributable to owners of
the parent 13,981 11,784
====== ======
The following notes form an integral part of this condensed
consolidated financial information.
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
29 May 2016 31 May
2015
Notes GBP000 GBP000
Non-current assets
Goodwill 1,433 1,433
Other intangible
assets 9 10,501 8,262
Property, plant
and equipment 10 22,621 22,719
Trade and other
receivables 929 1,195
Deferred tax assets 3,219 3,621
---------- ----------
38,703 37,230
---------- ----------
Current assets
Inventories 8,540 7,625
Trade and other
receivables 10,120 9,425
Current tax assets 725 600
Cash and cash equivalents 8 11,775 12,561
---------- ----------
31,160 30,211
---------- ----------
Total assets 69,863 67,441
---------- ----------
Current liabilities
Trade and other
payables (12,844) (13,131)
Current tax liabilities (1,924) (1,434)
Provisions 11 (823) (529)
---------- ----------
(15,591) (15,094)
---------- ----------
Net current assets 15,569 15,117
---------- ----------
Non-current liabilities
Other non-current
liabilities (488) (364)
Provisions 11 (621) (458)
---------- ----------
(1,109) (822)
---------- ----------
Net assets 53,163 51,525
====== ======
Capital and reserves
Called up share
capital 1,606 1,603
Share premium account 10,519 10,218
Other reserves 1,667 1,182
Retained earnings 39,371 38,522
---------- ----------
Total equity 53,163 51,525
====== ======
The following notes form an integral part of this condensed
consolidated financial information.
CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN TOTAL EQUITY
Called Share
up
share premium Other Retained Total
capital account reserves earnings equity
GBP000 GBP000 GBP000 GBP000 GBP000
At 31 May 2015 and
1 June 2015 1,603 10,218 1,182 38,522 51,525
Profit for the year
to 29 May 2016 - - - 13,496 13,496
Exchange differences
on translation of
foreign operations - - 485 - 485
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total comprehensive
income for the period - - 485 13,496 13,981
Transactions with
owners:
Share-based payments - - - 193 193
Shares issued under
employee sharesave
scheme 3 301 - - 304
Current tax charge
relating to exercised
share options - - - (3) (3)
Dividends paid to
Company shareholders - - - (12,837) (12,837)
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total transactions
with owners 3 301 - (12,647) (12,343)
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
At 29 May 2016 1,606 10,519 1,667 39,371 53,163
====== ====== ====== ====== ======
Called Share
up
share premium Other Retained Total
capital account reserves earnings equity
GBP000 GBP000 GBP000 GBP000 GBP000
At 1 June 2014 and
2 June 2014 1,593 9,490 1,655 42,656 55,394
Profit for the year
to 31 May 2015 - - - 12,257 12,257
Exchange differences
on translation of
foreign operations - - (473) - (473)
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total comprehensive
(expense)/income
for the period - - (473) 12,257 11,784
Transactions with
owners:
Share-based payments - - - 232 232
Shares issued under
employee sharesave
scheme 10 728 - - 738
Deferred tax charge
relating to share
options - - - (71) (71)
Current tax credit
relating to exercised
share options - - - 49 49
Dividends paid to
Company shareholders - - - (16,601) (16,601)
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
Total transactions
with owners 10 728 - (16,391) (15,653)
---------- ---------- ---------- ---------- ----------
At 31 May 2015 1,603 10,218 1,182 38,522 51,525
====== ====== ====== ====== ======
The following notes form an integral part of this condensed
consolidated financial information.
CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOW STATEMENT
Year ended Year
ended
29 May 2016 31 May
2015
Notes GBP000 GBP000
Cash flows from operating
activities
Cash generated from operations 7 26,782 25,579
UK corporation tax paid (2,236) (1,912)
Overseas tax paid (316) (393)
---------- ----------
Net cash from operating
activities 24,230 23,274
---------- ----------
Cash flows from investing
activities
Purchases of property, plant
and equipment (5,296) (6,783)
Proceeds on disposal of
property, plant and equipment - 26
Purchases of other intangible
assets (2,789) (1,012)
Expenditure on product development (4,578) (4,579)
Interest received 86 115
---------- ----------
Net cash from investing
activities (12,577) (12,233)
---------- ----------
Cash flows from financing
activities
Proceeds from issue of ordinary
share capital 304 738
Interest paid (3) (1)
Dividends paid to Company
shareholders (12,837) (16,601)
---------- ----------
Net cash from financing
activities (12,536) (15,864)
---------- ----------
Net decrease in cash and
cash equivalents (883) (4,823)
Opening cash and cash equivalents 12,561 17,550
Effects of foreign exchange
rates on cash and cash equivalents 97 (166)
---------- ----------
Closing cash and cash equivalents 8 11,775 12,561
====== ======
The following notes form an integral part of this condensed
consolidated financial information.
NOTES TO THE FINANCIAL INFORMATION
1. General information
The consolidated financial statements of Games Workshop Group
PLC are prepared under the going concern basis and in accordance
with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRSs), IFRS
Interpretations Committee interpretations and Standing
Interpretations Committee (SIC) interpretations as adopted by the
European Union and with those parts of the Companies Act 2006
applicable to those companies reporting under IFRSs.
These results for the year ended 29 May 2016 together with the
corresponding amounts for the year ended 31 May 2015 are extracts
from the 2016 annual report and do not constitute statutory
accounts within the meaning of section 434 of the Companies Act
2006.
The annual report for the year ended 29 May 2016, on which the
auditors have issued a report that does not contain a statement
under either section 498(2) or 498(3) of the Companies Act 2006,
will be posted to shareholders on 26 July 2016 and will be
delivered to the Registrar of Companies in due course. Copies will
also be available from Rachel Tongue, Games Workshop Group PLC,
Willow Road, Lenton, Nottingham, NG7 2WS. This information is also
available on the Company's website at
http://investor.games-workshop.com.
The annual general meeting will be held at Willow Road, Lenton,
Nottingham, NG7 2WS at 10:00am on 14 September 2016.
The annual financial report is prepared in accordance with the
Listing Rules and Disclosure and Transparency Rules of the
Financial Conduct Authority and accounting policies consistent with
those used in the 2015 annual report.
The preparation of the consolidated financial statements
requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect
the reported amounts of revenues, expenses, assets and liabilities,
and disclosure of contingencies at the balance sheet date. If in
future such estimates and assumptions, which are based on
management's best judgement at the date of the consolidated
financial statements, deviate from actual circumstances, the
original estimates and assumptions will be modified, as
appropriate, in the period in which the circumstances change. The
following areas are considered of greater complexity and/or
particularly subject to the exercise of judgement:
-- Management estimates and judgements are required in assessing
the impairment of assets, including capitalised development costs
and fixtures and fittings within loss making retail stores,
particularly in relation to the forecasting of future cash flows
and the discount rate applied to the cash flows.
-- Judgement is involved in assessing the exposures in the
provisions (including inventory, loss making retail stores, other
property, bad debt and returns) and hence in setting the level of
the required provisions.
2. Segment information
The chief operating decision-maker has been identified as the
executive directors. They review the Group's internal reporting in
order to assess performance and allocate resources. Management has
determined the segments based on these reports.
As Games Workshop is a vertically integrated business,
management assesses the performance of sales channels and
manufacturing and distribution channels separately. At 29 May 2016,
the Group is organised as follows:
- Sales channels. These channels sell product to external
customers, through the Group's network of retail stores,
independent retailers and directly via the global web store. The
sales channels have been aggregated into segments where they sell
products of a similar nature, have similar production processes,
similar customers, similar distribution methods, and if they are
affected by similar economic factors. The segments are as
follows:
- Trade. This sales channel sells globally to independent
retailers and also includes the Group's magazine newsstand business
and the distributor sales from the Group's publishing business
(Black Library).
- Retail. This includes sales through the Group's retail stores,
the Group's visitor centre in Nottingham, and global
exhibitions.
- Mail order. This includes sales through the Group's global web
stores and digital sales through external affiliates.
- Product and supply. This includes the design and manufacture
of the products and incorporates the production facility in the UK
and the Group logistics and stock management costs. This also
includes adjustments for the profit in stock arising from
inter-segment sales and charges for inventory provisions.
- Central costs. These include the Company overheads, head
office site costs, and the costs of running the Games Workshop
Academy.
- Service centre costs. Provides support services (IT,
accounting, payroll, personnel, procurement, legal, customer
services and credit control) to activities across the Group and
undertakes strategic projects.
- Royalties. This is royalty income earned from third party
licensees after deducting associated licensing costs.
The chief operating decision-maker assesses the performance of
each segment based on operating profit, excluding share option
charges recognised under IFRS 2, 'Share-based payment'. This has
been reconciled to the Group's total profit before taxation
below.
The segment information reported to the executive directors for
the year ended 29 May 2016 is as follows:
External revenue
Restated*
Year ended Year ended
29 May 2016 31 May 2015
GBP000 GBP000
Trade 44,522 44,477
Retail 48,414 49,060
Mail order 25,133 25,595
------------ ------------
Total revenue 118,069 119,132
======= =======
Segment revenue and segment profit include transactions between
business segments; these transactions are eliminated on
consolidation. Sales between segments are carried out at arm's
length. The revenue from external parties reported to the executive
directors is measured in a manner consistent with that in the
income statement.
For information, we analyse external revenue further below:
Restated*
Year ended Year ended
29 May 2016 31 May 2015
GBP000 GBP000
Trade
UK and Continental
Europe 15,504 15,656
North America 17,944 17,740
Australia and
New Zealand 1,658 2,000
Asia 741 584
Non-core trade 8,675 8,497
---------- ----------
Total Trade 44,522 44,477
Retail
UK 16,074 16,959
Continental
Europe 12,878 13,879
North America 10,417 9,806
Australia and
New Zealand 5,133 5,619
Asia 417 317
Non-core retail 3,495 2,480
---------- ----------
Total Retail 48,414 49,060
Mail order
Citadel and
Forge World 21,018 21,120
Non-core mail
order 4,115 4,475
---------- ----------
Total Mail order 25,133 25,595
----------- -----------
Total external
revenue 118,069 119,132
====== ======
*Revenue of GBP301,000 relating to certain trade customers for
the year ended 31 May 2015 has been reclassified from UK and
Continental Europe trade into non-core trade above to reflect the
way in which the business is structured at 29 May 2016. In addition
GBP537,000 of revenue has been reclassified from UK retail to UK
and Continental Europe trade in order to correct a classification
error relating to foreign exchange differences in the prior
year.
Operating expenses by segment are regularly reviewed by the
executive directors and are provided below:
Restated**
Year ended Year ended
29 May 2016 31 May 2015
GBP000 GBP000
Trade (8,899) (7,945)
Retail (35,930) (33,934)
Mail order (5,002) (4,135)
Product and supply (2,767) (3,111)
Central costs (5,582) (6,206)
Service centre costs (10,907) (11,215)
Royalties (430) (429)
---------- ----------
Total segment operating expenses (69,517) (66,975)
Share-based payment charge (193) (232)
------------ ------------
Total group operating expenses (69,710) (67,207)
======= =======
Total segment operating profit is as follows and is reconciled
to profit before taxation below:
Restated**
Year ended Year ended
29 May 2016 31 May 2015
GBP000 GBP000
Trade 10,625 11,508
Retail (3,410) (1,510)
Mail order 13,747 14,432
Product and supply 7,093 8,606
Central costs (5,424) (6,179)
Service centre costs (10,907) (11,217)
Royalties 5,329 1,069
---------- ----------
Total segment operating profit 17,053 16,709
Share-based payment charge (193) (232)
Finance income 93 109
Finance costs (5) (1)
---------- ----------
Profit before taxation 16,948 16,585
====== ======
**Segment operating expenses and segment operating profit for
the year ended 31 May 2015 have been restated to exclude the
share-based payment charge of GBP232,000. This is now shown as a
separate item above.
In addition charges relating to changes in inventory provisions
are now all shown within the product and supply segment. A charge
of GBP37,000 for the year ended 31 May 2015 has been reclassified
from retail to product and supply to reflect this.
An exceptional credit of GBP42,000 for the year ended 31 May
2015 has been included within the product and supply segment, being
the release of amounts previously provided for the continental
european reorganisation.
3. Exceptional items
The exceptional credit of GBP42,000 reported in the prior period
relates to the release of amounts previously provided for the
continental european restructure.
4. Dividends per share
A dividend of 20 pence per share, amounting to a total dividend
of GBP6,373,000, a dividend of 16 pence per share, amounting to a
total dividend of GBP5,099,000, and a further dividend of 16 pence
per share, amounting to a total dividend of GBP5,129,000, were
declared and paid during the prior period. A dividend of 20 pence
per share, amounting to a total dividend of GBP6,413,000, and a
further dividend of 20 pence per share, amounting to a total
dividend of GBP6,424,000, were declared and paid during the current
period.
5. Tax
Year ended Year ended
29 May 2016 31 May 2015
GBP000 GBP000
Current UK taxation:
* UK corporation tax on profits for the period 2,588 3,165
40 253
* Under provision in respect of prior periods
UK corporation tax on exceptional items for the period - 9
-------- --------
2,628 3,427
Current overseas taxation:
* Overseas corporation tax on profits for the period 349 347
(32) (539)
* Over provision in respect of prior periods
--------- ---------
Total current taxation 2,945 3,235
-------- --------
Deferred taxation:
* Origination and reversal of timing differences 660 893
(153) 200
* (Over)/under provision in respect of prior periods
-------- --------
Tax expense recognised in the income statement 3,452 4,328
===== =====
Current tax charge/(credit)
relating to sharesave scheme 3 (49)
Deferred tax charge relating
to sharesave scheme - 71
------- -------
Charge taken directly to equity 3 22
==== ====
The tax on the Group's profit before taxation differs from the
standard rate of corporation tax in the UK as follows:
Year ended Year
ended
29 May 31 May
2016 2015
GBP000 GBP000
Profit before taxation 16,948 16,585
Profit before taxation multiplied
by the standard rate of corporation
tax in the UK of 20% (2015: 20.83%) 3,390 3,455
Effects of:
Items not (assessable)/deductible
for tax purposes
Movement in deferred tax not recognised (248) 481
Higher tax rates on overseas earnings (2) (4)
Adjustments to tax charge in respect
of prior periods 457 482
(145) (86)
-------- --------
Total tax charge for the period 3,452 4,328
===== =====
A change to the UK corporation tax rate was announced in the
Chancellor's Budget on 16 March 2016. The change announced is to
reduce the main rate to 17% from 1 April 2020. Changes to reduce
the UK corporation tax rate to 19% from 1 April 2017 and to 18%
from 1 April 2020 had already been substantively enacted on 26
October 2015. The overall effect of these changes, if applied to
the deferred tax balance at the balance sheet date, would be to
reduce the deferred tax asset by an additional GBP9,000.
6. Earnings per share
Basic earnings per share
Basic earnings per share is calculated by dividing the profit
attributable to owners of the parent by the weighted average number
of ordinary shares in issue during the period.
Year ended Year
29 May 2016 ended
31 May
2015
Profit attributable to owners
of the parent (GBP000) 13,496 12,257
Weighted average number of ordinary
shares in issue (thousands) 32,093 31,975
Basic earnings per share (pence
per share) 42.1 38.3
===== =====
Basic earnings per share - pre-exceptional items
Basic earnings per share - pre-exceptional items is calculated
by dividing the profit attributable to owners of the parent, before
exceptional items, by the weighted average number of ordinary
shares in issue during the period.
Year ended Year
29 May 2016 ended
31 May
2015
Pre-exceptional profit attributable
to owners of the parent (GBP000) 13,496 12,215
Weighted average number of ordinary
shares in issue (thousands) 32,093 31,975
Basic earnings per share - pre-exceptional
items (pence per share) 42.1 38.2
==== ====
Diluted earnings per share
The calculation of diluted earnings per share has been based on
the profit attributable to owners of the parent and the weighted
average number of shares in issue throughout the period, adjusted
for the dilutive effect of share options outstanding at the period
end.
Year ended Year
29 May 2016 ended
31 May
2015
Profit attributable to owners
of the parent (GBP000) 13,496 12,257
Weighted average number of ordinary
shares in issue (thousands) 32,093 31,975
Adjustment for share options (thousands) 57 50
---------- ----------
Weighted average number of ordinary
shares for diluted earnings per
share (thousands) 32,150 32,025
Diluted earnings per share (pence
per share) 42.0 38.3
==== ====
Diluted earnings per share - pre-exceptional items
The calculation of diluted earnings per share - pre-exceptional
items has been based on the profit attributable to owners of the
parent, before exceptional items, and the weighted average number
of shares in issue throughout the period, adjusted for the dilutive
effect of share options outstanding at the period end.
Year ended Year
29 May ended
2016 31 May
2015
Pre-exceptional profit attributable
to owners of the parent (GBP000) 13,496 12,215
Weighted average number of ordinary
shares in issue (thousands) 32,093 31,975
Adjustment for share options (thousands) 57 50
--------- ---------
Weighted average number of ordinary
shares for diluted earnings per
share (thousands) 32,150 32,025
Diluted earnings per share - pre-exceptional
items (pence per share) 42.0 38.1
==== ====
7. Reconciliation of profit to net cash from operating activities
2016 2015
GBP000 GBP000
Operating profit 16,860 16,477
Depreciation of property, plant
and equipment 5,305 4,991
Net impairment on property, plant
and equipment 28 9
Loss on disposal of property, plant
and equipment 28 33
Loss on disposal of intangible
assets 39 24
Amortisation of capitalised development
costs 3,853 4,728
Amortisation of other intangibles 1,232 1,362
Share-based payments 193 232
Changes in working capital:
- (Increase)/decrease in inventories (701) 882
- Increase in trade and other receivables (293) (242)
- Decrease in trade and other payables (198) (395)
- Increase/(decrease) in provisions 436 (2,522)
--------- ---------
Net cash from operating activities 26,782 25,579
===== =====
8. Cash and cash equivalents
Cash and cash equivalents include the following for the purposes
of the cash flow statement:
2016 2015
GBP000 GBP000
Cash at bank and in hand 10,998 11,942
Short term bank deposits 777 619
---------- ----------
Cash and cash equivalents 11,775 12,561
===== =====
9. Other intangible assets
2016 2015
GBP000 GBP000
Net book value at beginning
of the year 8,262 8,683
Additions 7,362 5,695
Exchange differences 1 (2)
Disposals (39) (24)
Amortisation charge (5,085) (6,090)
---------- ----------
Net book value at end
of the year 10,501 8,262
====== ======
10. Property, plant and equipment
2016 2015
GBP000 GBP000
Net book value at beginning
of the year 22,719 21,027
Additions 5,193 6,753
Exchange differences 70 (2)
Disposals (28) (59)
Charge for the period (5,305) (4,991)
Impairment (28) (9)
---------- ----------
Net book value at end
of the year 22,621 22,719
====== ======
11. Provisions
Analysis of total provisions:
2016 2015
GBP000 GBP000
Current 823 529
Non-current 621 458
---------- ----------
Total provisions 1,444 987
====== ======
Exceptional Employee
items benefits Property Total
GBP000 GBP000 GBP000 GBP000
At 31 May 2015 26 492 469 987
Charged to the income
statement - 89 562 651
Exchange differences - 3 16 19
Utilised (26) (37) (150) (213)
--------- -------- -------- ----------
At 29 May 2016 - 547 897 1,444
===== ==== ==== ======
12. Commitments
Capital expenditure contracted for at the balance sheet date but
not yet incurred is GBP609,000 (2015: GBP447,000). Inventory
purchase commitments contracted for at the balance sheet date are
GBP2,689,000 (2015: GBP1,898,000).
13. Related-party transactions
Mrs K Kirby (Lathbury) received GBP66,185 during the prior year
from the Group for her work as interim head of IT. Mrs Kirby ceased
to work for the Group on 30 November 2014. T H F Kirby provided
consultancy at a cost of GBP35,000 in the year (2015:
GBP25,000).
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
ACSSEUFUIFMSEEW
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 26, 2016 02:01 ET (06:01 GMT)