Girls' toys boost Hasbro back into profit

Strong international growth

Transformers, Monopoly and My Little Pony have contributed to a 679.5 million dollar quarterly turnover (nearly 500 million euro), a 2 % increase compared to 2013’s first quarter (despite a 6 million dollar negative impact due to exchange rate fluctuations).

More important for Hasbro is that it managed to get a 32 million dollar net profit, some 23 million euro: it exceeded analysts’ expectations and achieved a huge turnaround compared to the nearly 7 million dollars it had to take as a loss in 2013’s first quarter.

With 337.7 million dollars, the United States and Canada remain Hasbro’s largest market, despite dropping 1 % – a loss compensated by huge international growth. Europe and Latin America grew 5 % and are now worth 305.5 million dollars, while Hasbro’s third division (Entertainment & Licensing) grew even more: + 13 % to nearly 35 million dollars.

Girls are catching up

My Little Pony, Equestria Girls and other typical girls’ toys have soared in sales, with a 21 % leap to 138.7 million dollars. That is 10 times faster than boys’ toys, which increased 2 % to 247.8 million dollars. That increase was mostly at Nerf and Marvel, because Beyblade is on its way out.

Hasbro sold another 220.5 million dollars’ worth in games (Monopoly, Mega Brands) in the past quarter and another 72.5 million dollars worth of preschool toys (Play-Doh, PlaySkool), even though both branches have lost 4 % in turnover.