Games Workshop has won a £7.8m refund from the US administration after the Supreme Court ruled that Donald Trump’s tariffs were illegal.
The Nottingham-headquartered Warhammer maker informed investors that it had successfully recovered £7.8m of those costs after the US Supreme Court deemed them unlawful, as the company had initially paid £12m in US customs charges to maintain its transatlantic trade operations.
The tariffs, introduced by Donald Trump, had a significant impact on Games Workshop’s finances, with the company paying a 10 per cent tariff on almost all trade with the US.
Games Workshop has delivered another year of double-digit sales and profit growth, with revenue surging by 11 per cent to £626.8m in the 12 months to June, while profit at the group climbed by more than 16 per cent.
They highlighted consistent growth in their core miniature and retail divisions.
However, the company experienced a setback in its smaller licencing arm, which contracted by 37 per cent.
The tariff bill offers an insight into the challenges that British exporters have encountered, with British exporters forced to pay a 10 per cent tariff on almost all trade with the US.
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The Supreme Court ruling, which deemed the tariffs illegal, has compelled the US administration to issue refunds to companies that had paid substantial tariff bills.
Donald Trump has since implemented a fresh round of permanent tariffs on dozens of the US’s trading partners, and Games Workshop now anticipates absorbing approximately £13m in tariff costs over the coming full year to cover the replacement import duties introduced by Donald Trump in the wake of the ruling.
Games Workshop stated that “the continuous hard work on efficiency gains to improve our gross margin has continued”, and they do not consider tariffs as an exceptional item, but rather part of the uncertainty of operating globally.
Despite ongoing uncertainty surrounding US trade policy, Games Workshop has performed well, declaring a dividend of 485p, down from 520p per share the previous year.
Kevin Rountree, boss of Games Workshop, said that “Games Workshop and the Warhammer hobby are in great shape” and that it was “exciting times” for the Warhammer maker.
Games Workshop’s experience with the tariffs has likely been shared by other British exporters, who have also had to deal with the challenges of trading with the US under the current trade policies, similar to how some UK businesses have faced challenges in their operations.
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