The world toy leader is posting record performances in 2021.
A record year, both in terms of sales and profits. The Danish Lego made a splash last year with its plastic bricks. In all countries, sales increased, with turnover jumping over the year by 27%, to 55.3 billion crowns (7.5 billion euros). Also showing double-digit growth (+34%), net income peaked at 13.3 billion crowns (1.8 billion euros). Carried by the pandemic, which has nailed families to the house, the king of plastic construction nevertheless refused to comment on these exceptional performances. Because of the conflict in Ukraine, the leaders have canceled their traditional annual address. Last week, they announced to stop supplies to Russia.
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Controlled by the family of billionaire Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, Lego has been surfing on success for several years. In 2020, the Danish took the place of world number one in toys, ahead of the Americans Hasbro and Mattel. Last year, it again won market share over competitors who were more weakened by games on tablets and smartphones. Its recipe is unique: in addition to targeting children, Lego develops ranges that appeal to those aged 18 and over, despite prices running into the hundreds of euros.
In France, “the average price of a Lego game is 22 euros”, specifies Franck Mathais, spokesperson for JouéClub. But it takes about 900 euros to afford Star Wars Death Star. “The strength of Lego is to offer classic game worlds (firefighter, police, boat), while having acquired the rights to use the best licenses (Star Wars, Marvel, Harry Potter, Super Mario) thinks this professional. At Christmas, the Lego store in the JouéClub village in Paris ended up empty. Like every year. »
New factory
Lego is betting on another specificity: a network of shops under its own brand, despite the boom in online commerce. After the bankruptcy of the American giant Toys’R’Us in 2017, these windows allow it to reach consumers directly. Despite the pandemic, 165 Lego outlets opened last year. China now has 340, out of a total of 832 in the world.
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The exploit of 2021 will not be repeated this year. With 2022, a return to more “normalized” single-digit growth is announced. But the expansion continues. “The strength of our results allows us to further accelerate strategic investments to help us reach more children over the long term,” CEO Niels B. Christiansen said in a statement. Construction of a factory is to begin in Vietnam to support growth in Asia-Pacific.
This site will be added to five others in Europe (Denmark, Hungary and the Czech Republic), China and Mexico. It will be the first to be carbon neutral. Concerned about its ecological footprint, Lego hopes to replace the plastic in its bricks by 2030. With this in mind, a 400 million dollar three-year plan was launched in 2020. A prototype brick made from recycled plastic was introduced last year.