Mattel CEO leaves after fifth turnover drop in a row

Lost another 6 %

Mattel managed a 1.99 billion dollar (1.76 billion euro) turnover in 2014’s fourth quarter, 6 % lower than in the same period last year. Its holiday sales were well below analyst expectations, while its full-year turnover dropped 7 % to 6 billion dollars. Net profit will probably slump to 498.9 million dollars.

Stockton’s reign, starting as CEO in 2012 and additionally as chairman of the board in 2013, has now definitely ended. His temporary successor will be former PepsiCo-employee and Mattel board member since 2006, Christopher Sinclair, while the company will look for a new CEO.

Barbie keeps losing ground

Mattel used to be the world’s largest toy company up until last year, but was overtaken by Lego mid-2014. Barbie, Fisher-Price and Hot Wheels still struggle sales-wise as children are more focused on electronic games.

Especially Barbie has been in a slump over the past three years: the “blonde” used to have a 25 % market share in 2009, but that dropped below 20 % in 2013. Other dolls, like Monster High and American Girl, have not been able to compensate for the drop, while Mattel will also lose its highly lucrative licence deal with Disney for its popular Frozen franchise to competitor Hasbro next year. Huge challenges await its new CEO…