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Toy Industry News

AP reports that "Toymaker Hasbro says second-quarter profit rose on demand for brands such as Transformers, Littlest Pet Shop and Indiana Jones. Profit rose to $37.5 million, or 25 cents per share, from $4.8 million, or 3 cents per share, a year earlier. Sales jumped 13.4 percent to $784.3 million from $691.4 million. International sales rose 15 percent. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected profit of 22 cents per share and sales of $675.4 million. Pawtucket, R.I. -based Hasbro Inc. raised prices to help offset rising costs".

News agency Reuters, have issued the following press release which gives more details as to which areas saw the biggest increase

"NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hasbro Inc (HAS.N), the No. 2 U.S. toymaker, posted a higher-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday, boosted by sales of toys tied to movies such as the latest "Indiana Jones" release and by brands like G.I. Joe and Transformers.
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Second-quarter net profit rose to $37.5 million, or 25 cents a share, from $4.8 million, or 3 cents a share, a year earlier when it took a charge for repurchasing its warrants from Lucasfilm Ltd and Lucas Licensing Ltd.

Analysts, on average, had expected a profit of 22 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Sales rose 13 percent to $784.3 million.

While U.S. and Canadian sales rose 11 percent to $467.7 million, sales in international markets increased 15 percent to $293.7 million, aided by a weak dollar.

Hasbro, which also owns the Littlest Pet Shop and Playskool brands, has said it expects per-share earnings to rise this year, but has also pointed to challenges, such as higher costs for transporting its goods.

"While input cost inflation continues to be challenging, thus far we have been able to mitigate most of the impact through cost savings initiatives and pricing actions," Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer David Hargreaves said in a statement on Monday.

Even rival Mattel Inc (MAT.N) is feeling the pain of rising commodity costs. The world's top toy company raised prices by mid- to high-single-digit rates across most products in June.

Hasbro said it spent $51.6 million to buy back 1.646 million shares of common stock during the quarter.

Hasbro shares have traded as low as $21.70 in the past year. They closed at $37.99 last week, nearly $2 below the year's high of $39.97, on the New York Stock Exchange.
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Category: Toy Industry News | Submitted by: quartz - on: Monday, 21st July 2008 at 18:38:00 BST | Share: | Discuss: Read on

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