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Toy giant Lego has defied the wider toy market by recording a “strong” sales and profit performance while also confirming plans to open a further 150 physical stores in 2020.
For the full-year ending December 2019, The Lego Group announced that revenues increased by 6% to DKK38.5bn (£4.4bn). Consumer sales also increased 5.6 %.
Operating profit at the retailer was up 1% to DKK 10.8bn (£1.25bn), while net profit grew 3% to DKK 8.3bn (£967m). Lego said the growth was achieved alongside the group’s “bold investments” in a range of initiatives designed to deliver growth in the long term.
The group also expanded its global retail estate opening 150 Lego branded stores, upgraded its e-commerce site, and strengthened its collaboration with retail partners. It now has 570 stores around the world, with plans to open approximately 150 more in 2020, the majority in mainland China.
Lego Group CEO, Niels B Christiansen, said: “We are very pleased with this result and I would like to thank our dedicated colleagues for their amazing contribution. It was a strong year where we outperformed the toy industry and grew consumer sales and market share in all our largest markets.
“We also expanded our presence in newer markets which helped us achieve our ambition of introducing learning through LEGO® play to many children for the first time.”
He added: “Our industry, like many others, is being redrawn by digitalisation and global socio-economic shifts. We’re leveraging our strong financial foundation to invest in initiatives that will allow us to keep ahead of these trends and enable growth in the long term.
“This includes innovating play, innovating our retail ecosystem and investing in new market entries so that we are well positioned to inspire young builders for generations to come.”
