Lego grabs bigger share of declining toy market

COPENHAGEN, Sept 4 (Reuters): Lego continued to take market share in the first six months of the year even as the toy market declined and Chinese consumers returned to stores at a slower pace than expected, the Denmark-based toymaker said on Wednesday.

The family-owned company, known for its colourful plastic bricks, said sales in January through June rose 1 per cent to 27.4 billion Danish crowns ($4 billion). By comparison, Lego grew sales 17 per cent last year and 27 per cent the year before.

"It has been a challenging six months for the toy industry," Chief Executive Niels Christiansen told Reuters. "But we've taken market share and have grown 10 per cent faster than the market."

The company's consumer sales grew 3 per cent in a market that declined by 7 per cent, meaning it grabbed market share from competitors like Hasbro and Barbie-maker Mattel.

However Christiansen adjusted his forecast for sales growth this year to "somewhere in the single-digits," having in March forecast growth of a "high single-digit percentage".

The best performing Lego themes included Star Wars, Technic, and Icons, showcasing the likes of the Eiffel Tower or the "Back to the Future" time machine, the company said.

The company did not raise prices for its Lego sets during the first half year and does not plan to do so, as freight and raw material costs had normalized, Christiansen said.