Toy manufacturer Lego (Billund / Denmark; www.lego.com) has reported increased sales and operating profit for 2009, consolidating the sharp rises reported for the first six months of the year – see Plasteurope.com of 20.08.2009. Operating profit leapt by 50% compared with 2008 to DKK 3.0 bn (EUR 403m), while sales increased by 22% year-on-year to DKK 11.7 bn (EUR 1.6 bn). The strongest sales growth was seen in English-speaking markets and across Europe and in most of Asia sales experienced solid growth. The classic “Lego City” and “Lego Star Wars” product lines generated the largest sales in 2009.

“We can be pleased by strong global growth which is driven by the classic product lines and, in addition, our launch of Lego board games has come off to a really good start,” said Lego CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp. The company entered the board games market in 2009 in the UK and in German speaking countries. It said that sales of the games considerably exceeded forecasts and in 2010 they will be launched in North America and the remainder of Europe.

During 2009, the company expanded production in anticipation of continuing sales growth and now manufactures the majority of its products in its own factories in Denmark, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Mexico.

Overall, the global toy market was stagnant in 2009, Lego said. However, most of Europe and Asia saw growth while the British and the Japanese markets experienced considerable falls in sales, and the US experienced a slight decrease. Continued stagnation in the global market is expected by Lego in 2010. “Based on the good results in 2009 and our sales during the first months of 2010, we also expect sizeable growth this year,” Knudstorp said.

e-Service:
Lego annual report 2009 as a PDF document (5.72 MB)