Games Workshop shares jumped after the fantasy model and media company said strong trading at the start of 2025 meant profits would be higher than previously thought.

Games Workshop released a short and sweet trading update on Wednesday, announcing that it saw full-year profit before tax ahead of expectations.

Shares were over 7% higher at the time of writing and had touched an all-time intraday high, before falling back.

The tabletop games company said trading in January and February had been strong across both its core business and its licensing business.

Games Workshop announced a licensing agreement with Amazon for the Warhammer brand to develop TV and film productions in late 2024, which promises to underpin the game’s popularity and provide an additional revenue stream. It’s unlikely this would have materially impacted trading in early 2025.

In the half-year results released in January, the company said that the ‘Warhammer hobby is in good shape’. It appears this continues to be the case.

The FTSE 100 fell back from record highs on Tuesday as 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico came into force, and Donald Trump announced that military aid for Ukraine would be paused.

• FTSE 100 retreats from record highs
• Canada and Mexico hit by 25% tariffs
• China tariffs doubled to 20%
• Ashtead profit falls

London’s leading index was down 0.4% at the time of writing after hitting record highs yesterday. On Monday, the rally was fueled by defence-related stocks, which didn’t provide the same level of support on Tuesday.

“The FTSE 100 has retreated from record highs this morning, taking direction from Wall Street where stocks had their worst day of the year so far,” said Derren Nathan, head of equity research, Hargreaves Lansdown

“The time for talking on tariffs is up for now with Donald Trump imposing a blanket 25% border tax on all imports from neighbouring Canada and Mexico. Canada’s hit back already with a 25% charge on $30bn of US imports with more wide-ranging reciprocal action planned for the end of the month.”

In addition to tariffs on Canada and Mexico, Trump doubled tariffs on China to 20%.

There were hopes that Donald Trump was using tariffs as a negotiating tactic, and the market reaction in the US overnight reflects the realisation that the US President is prepared to implement globally damaging trade policies to stop countries ‘stealing’ their money, as Trump puts it.

“Investors were desperately hoping that Trump would delay tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China at the eleventh hour, yet the US president has stuck to his guns and brought them into power. Naturally, the recipients have started to retaliate and that has raised the prospect of a full-blown trade war,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.

“Investors knew there was a real chance this would happen but quietly hoped it would all go away and simply be Trump having a bark worse than his bite. Not this time around.”

The FTSE 100’s weighting towards defence stocks helped the index outperform yesterday, but general pessimism around global trade dragged the index lower on Tuesday. Natural resource companies were hit, with BP falling over 3% and Glencore taking a 2.5% knock.

Ashtead was the top faller after announcing profit fell 7.5% in the three months to January 31st.

“If Ashtead is a barometer for the health of the US economy, its results imply that the country is coming down with a cold. Third quarter revenue and profit went into reverse as local construction markets felt the pain of interest rates staying higher for longer,” Russ Mould said.

“Ashtead has historically navigated downturns by cutting back on investments in new equipment and making sure its operations are running smoothly so it can go into attack mode when market conditions recover.

“Investors are more concerned about the here and now, hence why the shares continued to fall.”

Fresnillo was among the top risers after announcing a special dividend on the back of a doubling of EBITDA.

Greggs shares tanked on Tuesday after the purveyor of the humble sausage roll said sales growth in early 2025 has slowed to a snails pace.

Following like-for-like 5.5% sales growth in 2024, the baker revealed like-for-like sales for the first nine weeks of 2025 had fallen to 1.7%.

This was too much to bear for some investors who have become accustomed to strong levels of growth and Greggs shares tumbled over 10% in early trade.

“For quite some time it seemed that Greggs could do no wrong,” said Adam Vettese, market analyst at eToro.

“Yet now they have posted another lacklustre update with shares down a whopping 30% this year already. The company blamed challenging weather conditions in January for the slowdown, but aside from the cold snap it is more concerning if there is overall weaker demand for the product.”

Greggs’ success was built on low-cost products, but prices have gradually crept up in recent years. This will play a part in the 11.7% group sales increase over the past year but raises questions about demand going forward.

Inflationary pressures are likely to drag on profits, and Greggs risks having to increase prices further to maintain margins. However, such price hikes will be made against a backdrop of tighter conditions for the consumer, who may not see Greggs as the value option it once was.

“2024 was a year of highs and lows for sausage roll maker Greggs as it surpassed £2bn in revenue for the first time, though conditions deteriorated over the year,” said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown.

Record revenue will be of little consequence for investors, with Greggs starting the year on the back foot and key metrics set for a period of depression.

“However, 2025 is shaping up to be a tricky year; consumers are hardly flush with cash, and costs are set to rise as Rachel Reeves’s budget measures take effect,” Britzman said.