Lego profit surges to a record

Lego's first-half profit more than doubled to a record as the Danish toymaker emerged as a winner from the Covid-19 crisis.

Net profit rose 140% to DKr6.3bn (£730m) in the year to the end of June as revenue increased 46% to DKr23bn. The company said it benefited from the relaxing of Covid-19 restrictions and the reopening of stores.

Chief Executive Niels Christiansen said the results were also helped by investment in online sales, new products and a global supply chain. Top performing themes included Star Wars and Harry Potter.

Christiansen said: “As we look ahead to the second half of 2021, we continue to see strong demand for our products. Longer-term, we expect top-line growth to stabilise to more sustainable levels as people return to pre-pandemic spending patterns. This trend, combined with our plans to accelerate re-investments into the future of the business, is expected to result in more normalised profit levels moving forward."

Lego, owned by its founding family and a foundation, is the world's biggest toymaker despite its products all being based around plastic bricks. The company came close to collapse in the early 2000s but has since built itself back by branching out into films and kits linked to popular children's franchises such as Batman.