Rising sales were helped by
increasing demand from China, which Lego highlighted as a future "core
market".
The privately-held firm,
which only reports profits annually, also said it hired 1,355 workers.
Profits from the hugely
successful Lego movie were not included.
Lego is the world's second
largest toymaker, behind Mattel, the maker of Barbie.
Lego's profits have been
slowing recently as
demand in Europe and North America has weakened.
In 2012, net profit grew
35%, compared to 9% this year, and the firm has looked to Asia to help boost
sales in the future.
"During the coming
years the Lego Group expects to grow moderately ahead of the global toy market
that is expected to grow low single digits," said Lego in its annual report.
Slowing growth in toy sales
is one reason the firm has looked beyond building blocks to other areas of
revenue, like "The Lego Movie".
Released in February, the
film has been a surprise hit - holding the top US box office slot for more than
three weeks and earning an estimated $183.2m thus far.
Film studio Warner Brothers
has already said it plans to release a sequel in 2017.
Anything you can imagine
However, Lego chief
executive Jorgen Vig Knudstorp downplayed the success of the film in an interview
with the BBC.
"I don't think we'll
see a huge tidal wave of Lego movies - I don't think it would be the right way
to represent the brand," said Mr Knudstorp.
Mr Knudstorp said Lego
planned to invest a good portion of its profits back into the business by
opening new facilities in London, Shanghai, and Singapore, as well as on new
product development.
Despite the success of the
film and Lego's efforts to expand, Mr Knudstorp said the firm remained focused
on its core brand.
"You take these pieces,
you put them together...you can build anything you can possibly imagine,"
he said.
"Sticking with that and
doing it consistently worldwide is the secret of this business."
BBC Business
No comments:
Post a Comment