Games Workshop moves up a level

Fantasy and science fiction tabletop war gaming firm Games Workshop saw growth in sales, profit and return on capital from its core business in the first half of its financial year.The Warhammer 40k miniatures gaming firm saw revenue rise to £62.7m in the six months to November 27th, 2011, from £60m at the interim stage the year before, although the sales total was boosted by £0.7m of gains from favourable exchange rate movements.Profit before tax surged to £9.1m from £6.8m the year before, while earnings per share climbed to 22.1p from 15.6p.The company has only recently resumed dividend payments, but has done so with a vengeance; the interim dividend of 29p is not fully covered by earnings per share, but with net funds of £15.9m, up from £11.5m a year earlier, the company feels able to return cash to shareholders.The UK, North America, Asia, Emerging Markets and Capital Cities plus its two specialist businesses, Forge World and Black Library, all delivered constant currency sales growth. Continental Europe was down slightly in constant currency with strong performances from Italy and the Netherlands unable to offset declines elsewhere.Gross margin was maintained despite increased costs. Other than the rise in raw materials, however, the management sounded sanguine about the impact of the "real world" on the fantasy milieu in which the group operates."As a niche business, we, in general terms, neither benefit nor suffer from macro economic factors as our current results show. The Hobby is healthy and the challenge is to stay focused on what needs to be done to service it efficiently and cost effectively," the company statement said.Shares in Games Workshop shot up 40p to 490p following the release of the results.jh Games Workshop