Subject:
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Lego CNN article - 1000 loose job? Whats UP?
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Newsgroups:
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lugnet.general
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Date:
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Fri, 22 Jan 1999 14:11:04 GMT
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Viewed:
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997 times
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How can things be so bad? The ZB in my area never can keep legos in stock.
The had ~30 Mindstorms on Oct 16 and they were gone by Nov 10th. never to be
seen on the shelf again. Is lego just not making enough of the items that
people want? I would love to see the return of some of the older "retired" sets
like the 8880 Super Car. Why spend money designing and tooling a new set when
they can re-release a classic?
http://cnnfn.com/worldbiz/europe/wires/9901/21/lego_wg/
Lego loss is first ever
Toy maker to let go up to 1,000
workers, puts its hopes on-line
January 21, 1999: 3:20 p.m. ET
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (Reuters) - The
profits no longer are slotting neatly into place
for Danish toy maker Lego, which is facing
its first-ever loss in 60 years.
"The Lego group is not in crisis, but action
is needed," Chief Executive Kjeld Kirk
Kristiansen said Thursday.
Lego, which is family-owned, said it plans
to cut some 1,000 jobs, about a tenth of its
global work force.
Famous for its brightly colored interlocking
plastic building bricks, Lego has expanded
into electronic and computer toys. But it has
been outpaced by rivals in this high-growth
sector of the market, analysts said earlier this
week.
On Monday, weekly current affairs
newsletter Mandag Morgen (Monday
Morning) forecast a three-digit million-crown
loss for Lego in 1998, when its accounts are
published in late April.
In 1997, Lego's pre-tax profit fell to 171
million crowns ($26.6 million) from 699
million in 1996, and net profit slumped to 62
million crowns from 470 million.
"There are large variations in efficiency
within Lego and in comparison with other
companies. If every area had been as
efficient as the best, we would not have had a
negative result in 1998," Kristiansen said.
He gave no figures for the expected loss or
other financial details for last year but said
management targeted an improvement of one
billion crowns ($156 million) in the group's
annual result for 1999, after revising growth
targets down.
Kristiansen said Lego's 1999 plans hinge
on new interactive on-line toys and the
opening of a new Legoland theme park in the
United States.
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