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LEGO CEO Says Growth in Sales to Girls Is Global
Aug. 31, 2012 (Bloomberg) -- LEGO A/S Chief Executive Officer Joergen Vig
Knudstorp discusses the 36 percent increase in first-half profit as sales of new
building-block sets for girls surged and as Europe’s biggest toymaker grabbed
global market share. He talks from Billund, Denmark, with Mark Barton on
Bloomberg Television’s “On the Move.” (Source: Bloomberg)
Video time: 4:44
Bloomberg.com/video
From the Associated Press
August 31, 2012
LEGO new girl (Friends) series helps profits soar
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — LEGO new line of toys created specifically for girls
helped first-half profits jump 35 percent, despite criticism for fueling gender
stereotypes.
The family-owned Danish toy maker on Friday said net profit rose to 2 billion
kroner ($336 million), from 1.48 billion kroner in the first six months of 2011.
Sales rose 24 percent to 9.1 billion kroner.
The company said it sold twice as many LEGO Friends sets as expected during the
first six months of the year.
“It has been amazing to experience the enthusiastic welcome that consumers have
given the new range,” Chief Executive Joergen Vig Knudstorp said. “Sales have
been quite astonishing.”
When LEGO Friends was launched earlier this year, it was met with protests from
some consumer groups saying the toys were reinforcing gender stereotypes. The
line includes a set for girls with mini-figures in pink, purple and green
settings, a dream house, a splash pool and a beauty shop.
In the U.S., the SPARK movement against the sexualization of girls and young
women, organized a petition with more than 50,000 signatures calling on LEGO to
change its marketing strategy.
LEGO said the new line was developed amid requests from parents and girls for
more realistic and detailed sets with brighter colors and role playing
opportunities.
The company said the half-year result was achieved at a time when the global toy
market is declining, and that it had increased its share of the global toy
market to more than 8 percent, one percentage point higher than in first half of
2011.
The first half of 2012 “exceeds our expectations, and the financial result is
exceptional, especially in view of general developments in the world toy
market,” Vig Knudstorp said. “However, it is still too early to provide
estimates on the expected result for the full year because the closing months of
the year are crucial for our business.”
LEGO said it has been expanding capacity in all areas of its business in 2012 to
be able to meet growing demand, and plans to hire some 1,000 new employees
globally this year.
The company, which employs some 10,000 people worldwide, is not publicly listed,
but has published earning reports since 1997. It does not release quarterly
figures.
Source: AP, The Associated Press.
-end of report-
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