Subject:
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Lego Loss details, from BBC news....
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.announce
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Followup-To:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Fri, 22 Jan 1999 23:17:00 GMT
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Viewed:
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2395 times
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Apologies if it has already been posted.
To view it on the site, go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/
and do a search for Lego, they are the top two returns.
Monday, January 18, 1999 Published at 15:01 GMT
Business: The Company File
Red brick for Lego
Lego has been slow to catch up in the electronic toy market
Lego, the world-famous maker of plastic building blocks for children, has failed
to make a profit for the first time since the 1930s.
Company spokesman Peter Ambeck-Madsen said the results for 1998 would not be
published before the end of April, but the Danish company would "certainly" make
a loss. He said "this will not be a catastrophe because Lego ... is strong
enough to withstand this first setback".
Lego hopes its Mindstorm robot toys will revive the brand
Mr Ambeck-Madsen said the company would have to reorganise its workforce, but
refused to confirm reports in a Danish newspaper that Lego would sack 10% of its
10,000 employees.
According to the newspaper report, the redundancies will affect mainly people
working for Lego's finance, sales and marketing departments. Lego employs 4,000
people in Denmark.
The downturn has not come as a surprise. During the 1990s, Lego regularly posted
profits of more than $62m (£37m). By 1997 this had shrunk to $9.7m (£5.9m).
Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, president of Lego Group, runs the family business
The company does not rely solely on its plastic bricks. Legoland theme parks,
Lego clothing and a new range of electronic toys are generating revenue as well.
Lego is a family-run firm, owned by the Kristiansen family. The company was
founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen, a carpenter who had a sideline in
wooden toys.
The world-famous plastic studded building blocks were invented in 1958, after a
decade of developing a toy system of "Automatic Binding Bricks".
Business: The Company File
Lego to cut 1,000 jobs
Lego, the Danish toymaker, famous for its plastic building bricks, is to shed
10% of its workforce next year in an attempt to return to profitability.
June Kelly: "Lego are fighting back" (BBC Six O'Clock News)
The company has been suffering from weak demand for its products in recent
years, as interest in computer-based toys and video games has surged.
Profits plunged for the privately owned company to £6m (62m Danish kroner) in
1997 compared with £47m (470m Dkr) in l996. Net sales were flat at £740m (Dkr
7.6bn).
Chief Executive Kjeld Kristiansen is one of the family owners
Chief executive Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen told staff in an internal newsletter that
the cutbacks were necessary to restore profitability. He said that the company
was seeking a £100m (1bn Dkr) turnaround in its fortunes.
Although 1998 results won't be officially published until April, a spokesman
acknowledged on Monday that they would be in the red.
The job cuts will mainly affect people in the sales, marketing and finance
departments.
Just under half of Lego's 10,000 employees are based in Denmark.
Never made a loss
Lego, privately owned by the Kristiansen family, has not made a loss since it
was founded.
It has only recently launched a computer-based Lego system, and it also has
theme parks (one in Windsor in the UK) and clothing.
The company was founded in 1932 by Ole Kirk Kristiansen, a carpenter who had a
sideline in wooden toys.
The world-famous plastic studded building blocks were invented in 1958, after a
decade of developing a toy system of "Automatic Binding Bricks".
--
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richard.dee@nospam.virgin.net remove nospam dot
Web Site: http://freespace.virgin.net/richard.dee/lego.html
AOL Instant Messenger: RJD88888 ICQ 13177071
_____________________________________________________________
For the best Lego news, visit: http://www.lugnet.com/news/
Need instructions for a model? http://www.kl.net/scans/
_____________________________________________________________
--
_____________________________________________________________
richard.dee@nospam.virgin.net remove nospam dot
Web Site: http://freespace.virgin.net/richard.dee/lego.html
AOL Instant Messenger: RJD88888 ICQ 13177071
_____________________________________________________________
For the best Lego news, visit: http://www.lugnet.com/news/
Need instructions for a model? http://www.kl.net/scans/
_____________________________________________________________
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