Hasbro’s girl power helped 2016 sales top US$5 billion

A 50% sales spike in girl-skewing toys helped Hasbro pass the US$5-billion revenue mark for the first time last year.
February 6, 2017

Hasbro’s 2016 acquisition of the Disney Princess and Disney Frozen licenses, as well as overall gains in its Girls category, led to a stronger-than-expected 2016 for the Rhode Island-based toy giant.  In fact, full-year revenue increased by 13% to to a record-breaking US$5.02 billion.

Most operating segments experienced growthincluding an 8% rise in Entertainment and Licensing. Earnings, meanwhile, rose 22% to US$551.4 million last year.

US and Canada revenue was up 15% to US$2.56 billion, while International segment sales rose 11% to US$2.19 billion (with Europe leading the pack at a 14% bump).

The big winner was the company’s Girls category, which grew 50% in fiscal 2016 to a record US$1.19 billion. Shipments of the Disney Princess and Frozen lines, DreamWorks’ Trolls toys, and Baby Alive, Furreal Friends and Easy-Bake Oven products contributed to the sales surge. (Hasbro won the contract for dolls based on the Disney Princess property from Mattel in 2014 and began selling them in 2016, leading to significant gains in Q1, Q2 and Q3 last year.)

Boys toys, meanwhile, saw a 4% rise to US$1.85 billion last year, driven by Nerf and Yo-Kai Watch.

Preschool sales were down 1% to US$589.2 million in 2016. Consecutive revenue growth for Play-Doh was offset by softness for Playskool items.

For Hasbro’s Q4 2016, overall revenues were up 11% to US$1.63 billion.

Girls grew by 52% in the holiday quarter to US$394.2 million, while Boys dropped 3% to US$552.3 million.

The Games category saw gains in both Q4 (11%) and fiscal 2016 (9%), due in large part to  Magic: The Gathering, Pie Face, Duel Masters, Simon, Bob-It and the new game Speak-Out.

Beginning in Q1 2017, Hasbro will report its revenue by brand portfolio—categorized by Franchise Brands, Partner Brands, Hasbro Gaming and Emerging Brands—rather than highlighting Boys, Games, Girls and Preschool.

Under this new organization, Franchise Brands reported US$2.32 billion in revenue for fiscal 2016 (up 2%), while Partner Brands saw US$1.41 billion (up 28%) and Hasbro Gaming pulled in US$813 million (up 23%). Emerging Brands from Hasbro reported US$398 million in revenue (up 17%) last year.

 

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