Lego turnover up thanks to The Lego Movie and Lego Friends

Second Lego Movie announced

Lego’s sales grew 13 % in 2014 to 28.6 billion Danish crowns (3.8 billion euro) and its net profit even grew 15 % to 7 billion crowns (nearly 1 billion euro). The Lego Friends collection, the pastel-coloured figurines Lego has used to conquer little girls’ hearts for years, has been performing well for a while now.

The huge success of The Lego Movie, which drew in huge crowds the world over, also helped grow profit and turnover. The movie cost 50 million dollars, but raked in 468 million dollars and has resulted in a sequel which should hit theaters in 2018 according to publisher Warner Bros.

Goal: over 5 % growth in 2015

For 2015 and the years after, Lego expects the toy market to grow 5 % per year. Financial director John Goodwin expects the company to slightly outpace the market’s average growth, which is why the company will erect a new Lego factory in China. The new factory should be fully functional by 2017 and as the Asian region represents only 10 % of the company’s turnover, it still has plenty of growth potential there.

Lego’s excellent results are in stark contract with its major competitor Mattel, which produces Barbie, Fisher-Price and Hot Wheels. Mattel’s turnover dropped 7 % last year, leading to the departure of its CEO Bryan Stockton in January. Mattel now tries to manufacture more technological toys, like a talking Barbie with artificial intelligence or a contemporary version of the legendary View-Master (a Google collaboration), to buckle the trend.