Toy manufacturer LEGO also benefited in the first half of this year from children staying at home and parents purchasing new building kits. The Danish company made more than twice as much profit as in the same period last year.
In the corona year 2020, LEGO was already doing good business due to the increased demand for toys among families. Children mainly had to enjoy themselves at home due to lockdowns, contributing to a record turnover. Moreover, because stores were able to reopen this year after easing lockdowns, the company behind the plastic building blocks recorded further revenue growth.
In the first six months of 2021, 23 billion Danish krone (converted almost 3.1 billion euros) worth of toys went over the counter. That is 46 percent more than a year earlier and a new record. The company then posted a net profit of 847 million euros, an increase of 140 percent.
That profit could have been even higher if it had not been so expensive to ship containers or stock raw materials, LEGO reports in its half-year figures. Prices are rising worldwide as the economic recovery has led to increased demand for maritime transport and raw materials, causing shortages and congestion.
LEGO also expects to overgrow in the second half of 2021. After that, households will probably be less eager to stock up on LEGO or Duplo, CEO Niels Christiansen predicts. “Longer term, we expect revenue growth to stabilize to sustainable levels as spending patterns return to pre-pandemic levels.”