MARKET REPORT: Warhammer leads Games Workshop into FTSE 100
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Games Workshop looks set to have won promotion to the FTSE 100 as it cashes in on the success of its fantasy miniatures brand Warhammer. The company was valued at £4.7billion at the close of trading last night, having seen its shares soar 43 per cent this year and 2500 per cent over the past decade.
That put it on course for promotion to the UK’s blue-chip share index for the first time since it was set up in 1975 by friends John Peake, Ian Livingstone and Steve Jackson. Having started out making wooden boardgames, it began importing Dungeons and Dragons from the US before developing its own miniature wargames such as Warhammer.
The stock lit up the City last month with a bumper set of figures that have now propelled it into the FTSE 100 giants of British business from AstraZeneca (up 2.2 per cent, or 236p, to 10790p) and Shell (up 1.7 per cent, or 42p, to 2556p) to Barclays (up 0.7 per cent, or 1.75p, to 264.6p) and Marks & Spencer (up 3.5 per cent, or 13.7p, to 400.2p).
The promotion came despite shares slipping 0.5 per cent, or 70p, to 14150p yesterday. On the charge: Games Workshop began importing Dungeons and Dragons from the US before developing its own miniature wargames such as Warhammer (pictured). Also winning promotion after a strong run look to be investment trust Alliance Witan (flat at 1286p yesterday) and money manager St James’s Place (off 0.7 per cent, or 6.5p, to 897p).
They are set to replace troubled housebuilder Vistry Group (off 0.4 per cent, or 2.5p, to 628p), Mike Ashley’s retail empire Frasers Group (up 1.4 per cent, or 10p, to 751p) and B&M European Value Retail (up 2 per cent, or 6.9p, to 344.7p) which appear destined for relegation into the FTSE 250.
