Sales of famed Danish toymaker Lego outpaced the general toy market within the first half of the yr because the demand for its colourful plastic bricks peaked in European and North American markets, the corporate mentioned on Wednesday.
The surge in Lego’s gross sales contrasts with a stagnating international toy market and tepid gross sales for rivals equivalent to Barbie-maker Mattel and Hasbro, the agency behind My Little Pony.
The family-owned Lego firm mentioned gross sales from January by means of June rose 13% to 31 billion Danish crowns ($4.65 billion). By comparability, Lego elevated first-half gross sales by 1% final yr and 17% in 2022, year-over-year.
“We have performed significantly better than the overall toy market and have grabbed market share at a fairly high pace,” CEO Niels Christiansen instructed Reuters.
The international toy market has stagnated this yr following a 7% decline in gross sales final yr, he mentioned.
Lego’s working revenue rose 26% to eight.1 billion crowns.
Following the sturdy begin to the yr, Christiansen now expects double-digit gross sales development in 2024, in contrast with earlier steerage of single-digit development.
The firm plans to open round 100 shops this yr, barely fewer than in earlier years, bringing the entire variety of shops above 1,100.
“We are opening slightly fewer stores in China right now because we see that consumers there are holding back a bit,” Christiansen mentioned.
Instead, the corporate has shifted focus to Europe and North America, the place it’s seeing sturdy demand.
Lego Icons, which embrace fashions of the Eiffel Tower and Titanic, have been among the many best-performing themes, together with City, Technic and Star Wars. The firm launched round 300 units within the first half.
Source: www.dailysabah.com