Danish toy maker Lego said it planned to focus more on Asia after the continent proved to be the fastest-growing region for sales in the first half.<\/p>\n
Lego, the world’s No. 2 player in the toy market by sales after Barbie maker Mattel from the United States, increased sales by 13 percent in the first six months of 2013.<\/p>\n
Sales growth in Asia was 35 percent – far ahead of the 4 percent rises in both North America, its biggest market, and Latin America, and the 8 percent increase in Europe<\/p>\n
“Asia has not been a major focus for us as a company up until this point, but we see now with the emerging middle class, more and more consumers that are really interested in our … products,” Chief Financial Officer John Goodwin said in an interview with Reuters Insider.<\/p>\n
It said the launch of its animal-themed Chima range launched this year had contributed strongly to the sales increase.<\/p>\n
“The theme has performed particularly well in Asia, where it has been a large contributor to the high growth,” chief marketing officer Mads Nipper said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The company said earlier this year it planned to build its first factory in China next year.<\/p>\n
The company is unlisted and did not specify revenue figures for each region and did not break regions down into smaller areas.<\/p>\n
Sales rose to 10.36 billion Danish crowns ($1.83 billion) from 9.13 billion in the first half, compared with the same period last year.<\/p>\n
Mattel’s sales were up 3.7 percent – year-on-year – to $2.16 billion dollars in the first half of 2013, while the United States’ Hasbro – the world’s No. 3 toy maker – reported a fall in sales of 2.1 percent to $1.43 billion.<\/p>\n
Lego’s operating profit for the first half was up 11 percent to 3.2 billion Danish crowns compared with 2.88 billion a year earlier.<\/p>\n
Net profit for first half of 2013 was up 18 percent to 2.39 billion Danish crowns, from 2.02 billion.<\/p>\n
Watch the full Reuters digital TV interview with the Lego CFO<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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