Danish LEGO Group reported strong half-year results in its latest earnings report on Wednesday, with double digit growth on its top and bottom lines compared with 2023, and an increasing market share as new digital products and physical toy sets capture consumers’ imaginations.
In the first six months, the Danish toy giant generated a 13 percent growth in revenue, pulling in DKK 31.0 billion compared with DKK 27.4 billion for the same period last year. Operating profit (EBIT) rose by 26 percent to a record DKK 8.1 billion.
CEO Niels B Christiansen said he was pleased with the strong performance and credited the fact that LEGO toys continue to be “relevant for all ages”.
In 2024 so far, LEGO has launched around 300 new sets, and says demand is particularly strong in the Americas and Europe. The company’s total consumer sales grew by 14 percent this half, significantly outpacing the toy industry average and expanding the LEGO’s market share.
Top sellers spanned “a mix of homegrown and licensed themes” including LEGO Technic, Star Wars and Harry Potter, according to a company press release.
Christiansen added that LEGO’s “solid financial foundation” allowed for further increased spending on strategic initiatives such as digital and retail expansion.
Notably, LEGO has boosted spending on its digital universe this year since launching a collaboration in 2023 with the US video game developer Epic Games – the company behind the popular online game Fortnite.
Fortnite attracted the second highest number of monthly players in the world in 2023, according to IPC Store, which saw LEGO Group able to expand its ‘LEGO play’ offering on the platform in the first half of 2024 with new digital features aimed at children and families.
In October, LEGO says it will “bridge the digital and physical” with the release of the first LEGO Fortnite sets.
In the first six months, the company also opened 41 new stores, including a store in Jakarta – its largest in Southeast Asia.
The LEGO group was founded in 1932 in Billund, a town in Denmark’s far west, where the company still has its headquarters.
It’s colourful bricks are sold in more than 120 countries worldwide, and the toymaker has a 6,200-employee workforce in Denmark today.
The company recently announced that it will open an office building in Copenhagen in 2027 for an additional 1,500 employees, as well as two new office complexes in Billund.
