Copenhagen (AFP) – Danish toymaker Lego, the world’s biggest, posted record sales for the first half of the year and continues to gain market share despite global volatility, its chief executive told AFP. “Over the last several years, we have been able to outgrow the market and take market share pretty consistently,” Niels Christiansen said in an interview. “I don’t think we are at the end of it.”
In the first six months of the year, the global toy market expanded by 6.9 percent, with Lego’s share growing “at twice that rate,” Christiansen added. In the January-June period, the maker of the colourful plastic bricks saw its net profit jump 10 percent from a year earlier to nine billion kroner ($1.39 billion). Sales rose by 12 percent to a record 34.6 billion kroner, its sixth straight increase for a half-year period. “There’s been challenges and there’s been volatility in the world, but I think our operating model and the dedication throughout has been really good,” Christiansen said.
Unlike US competitors Hasbro and Mattel, Lego had no complaints about the impact of US tariffs, which President Donald Trump raised to a minimum of 10 percent on imported products as of April 1. The Danish group, which is building a new factory in Virginia, saw double-digit growth in the United States, where its products currently come mainly from its Mexico factory. “It’s not necessarily volatility or tariffs that make a difference between players on the market. I think for our purpose, we have seen a very broad-based growth,” Christiansen said.
He attributed the company’s robust health to its extensive portfolio — it added 314 new Lego sets in the first half — as well as the brand’s strong reputation and the opening of 24 new stores, bringing its total to 1,079 worldwide. Lego soared during the Covid pandemic to become the world’s biggest toymaker, according to market analysis firm Statista, ahead of Japan’s Bandai Namco and Mattel and Hasbro.
Franchises like Lego Star Wars and Harry Potter, along with partnerships — notably with the video game Fortnite — have cemented the Danish toymaker’s brand among consumers. The unlisted family-owned company dates to 1949 and is run by the heirs of founder Ole Kirk Christiansen.
© 2024 AFP
