Warhammer Maker Sees Poor Christmas Sales

Fantasy games maker Games Workshop (LSE: GAW.L - news) has become the latest victim of the high street slump after reporting disappointing December sales and warning on profit.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) fell 9% after the Nottingham-based firm said sales were below expectations across the group last month.

Chief executive Kevin Rountree said pre-tax profit for the year to 29 May was "unlikely to exceed £16m", down from £16.6m in the last financial year.

The company, which sells Warhammer games and miniature soldiers and also holds a licence for a Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit tabletop battle game, delivered the update on trading as it also published results for the six months to 29 November.

Sales fell 2.2% compared to last year to £55.3m, although online sales were up 5.3%. Pre (Shanghai: 600048.SS - news) -tax profit was flat at £6.3m.

Games Workshop has 430 stores worldwide having closed 13 during the half-year period. It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) has direct sales in the US, Australia, China and Japan.

Mr Rountree admitted the latest results were disappointing but added: "We are all confident that we are focused on delivering the necessary changes to address this decline."

He said the company had launched some "great new products" while its new Warhammer World visitor centre in Nottingham had performed well.

It is the latest games retailer to report disappointing pre-Christmas sales after video games firm Game Digital (LSE: GMD.L - news) issued a profit warning in December.

The festive period has been tough for a number of the high street's big names with Marks & Spencer (Other OTC: MAKSF - news) , Next (Other OTC: NXGPF - news) and Poundland all reporting disappointing performances.

Meanwhile, John Lewis saw falling sales at its department stores but growth overall as online revenues surged.