The significant growth in earnings seen at toy manufacturer Lego (Billund / Denmark; www.lego.com) in 2010 – see Plasteurope.com of 14.03.2011 – has continued into the first half of 2011, which saw operating profits increase by 38% year-on-year to DKK 2.03 bn (EUR 273m) on sales up 25% at DKK 7.35 bn. The company said it had achieved double-digit growth rates in all of its geographical markets in the first six months of 2011, with the exception of Japan due to the after-effects of the tsunami and earthquake early in the year. The global toy market continues its trend of recent years, with a 2% increase during the first half of 2011. Lego said it had increased its market share to around 7%.

“The first six months of the year have exceeded our expectations on all markets, and the financial result is very satisfactory. But as the bulk of our sales occur in the closing months of the year, it is too early yet to say anything definite about the overall result for 2011, ” said Lego CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp.

Since its launch in January, Lego’s “Ninjago”, has received an extremely positive reception on all markets and is selling well above expectation, the company said, while classic product lines such as Lego “City” and “Star Wars” remain in the top selling category. New sets based on licences for “Pirates of the Caribbean” and “Harry Potter” are selling much better than expected.

The company is planning to reorganise and simplify the structure of the group with the restructuring to take effect from January 2012. Further information will be made available in mid-September, Lego said.