LEGO Systems Builds Eighth Consecutive Year of U.S. Sales Growth

NEW YORK, Feb. 8, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL TOY FAIR -- LEGO Systems, Inc., the North American division of the world's leading construction toy brand, achieved its eighth consecutive year of double-digit U.S. consumer sales growth in 2012, increasing category and overall toy industry shares over record performance in 2011.

2012 U.S. Year-End Highlights (Source: The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service)

• Continued year-on-year growth trend in the U.S. as consumer sales grew +26% to reach $1.32 billion.
• Increased U.S. total toy market share to 7.9%, up +1.6 share points over 2011, maintaining rank as America's third largest toy manufacturer. The company's share of the total U.S. toy market has quadrupled in five years.
• Grew share of U.S. Building Sets category +5.3 points to 84.6% in a year of increased category competition.
• Gained +12.1 share points to reach 51.4% of the Preschool segment of U.S. Building Sets.
• Surpassed expectations of LEGO® Friends to become the #6 U.S. girls' property of 2012 in fourth quarter.
• Manufactured 48 of the top 50 Building Sets of 2012.
• Accounted for 4% of total video games units sold industry wide, ranking #3 in overall video game franchises.

"Achieving another year of record growth in the U.S. is both an exciting and humbling reflection of our strategy to deliver a wide range of building opportunities that invites builders of all ages, interests and skill levels," said Soren Torp Laursen, president, LEGO Systems. "Last year's sales growth is the result of a well-balanced core business of themed and licensed building sets, amortized by innovative play options for preschoolers, girls, and board game enthusiasts, all of which capture and inspire children's imaginations and compel them to keep building." 

Growth Across the Product Portfolio
LEGO Friends, LEGO NINJAGO, LEGO CITY, LEGO Star Wars™, and LEGO Super Heroes ranked among the top five LEGO properties of the year, together accounting for 50% of all Building Sets sold in the U.S. in 2012¹.  An expanded and diversified LEGO DUPLO® collection introduced new builders to the brand to drive the company's share of the Preschool segment of Building Sets to its highest level ever. Sales of the classic LEGO CREATOR™ line of 3-in-1 models increased +20%, and the company's Bricks & More collection of buckets, tubs and boxes grew +28%², signaling that demand is very strong for the open-ended creativity of non-themed building sets.

Introduced in January 2012, LEGO Friends is one of the company's most successful global launches ever. In the U.S., the line ranked #6 overall girls' property in the all-important fourth quarter of the year.³  Measured in dollars, the line was the number-one property if ranked among the Dolls Play Sets segment⁴, where it is sometimes found in stores. The line tripled the number of girls who build with LEGO bricks in the United States in its launch year⁵, significantly growing the company's active user base in the U.S.

The Year Ahead
To fuel continued U.S. growth, LEGO Systems introduces 250 new products at the American International Toy Fair this week in New York City. Building on its winning themes such as LEGO CITY, LEGO Friends and LEGO Star Wars are new themes, LEGO Legends of CHIMA™, LEGO Galaxy Squad, and a 25^th anniversary LEGO Castle collection. New licenses, Nickelodeon's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™ and Disney's The Lone Ranger™, join continuing powerhouse lines of DC UNIVERSE and MARVEL Super Heroes, the LORD OF THE RINGS™ and THE HOBBIT™. New DUPLO preschool products, board games, and the next generation of the world's original smart toy, LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3, round out an innovative portfolio that makes the potential for continued growth very strong.

"We are very confident in our ability to achieve growth again in 2013 as we continue to redefine the way children play and build, recruit new builders to the LEGO system and reinforce our single brand status with every new experience," Laursen said. "For example, LEGO Legends of CHIMA marks the first time we have applied the same original story line to all of our play patterns–construction, social competition gaming, buildable action figures, board games, video games, and online gaming–anchored by a Cartoon Network television series and surrounded by a calendar full of events and engagement opportunities, and is sure to be among the hottest properties this year."

"As a privately-held company with a fixed mission, we have the flexibility to take bigger risks, develop long-term strategic offerings, and truly place consumer needs at the center of our business to drive continuous growth," Laursen concluded.

About LEGO Systems, Inc.
LEGO Systems, Inc. is the North American division of The LEGO Group, a privately-held, family-owned company based in Billund, Denmark, one of the world's leading manufacturers of creatively educational play materials for children.  The company is committed to the development of children's creative and imaginative abilities, and its employees are guided by the motto adopted in the 1930s by founder Ole Kirk Christiansen: "Only the best is good enough."  Visit the virtual LEGO world at www.LEGO.com

LEGO, the LEGO logo, DUPLO, Legends of CHIMA and MINDSTORMS are trademarks of The LEGO Group.  © 2013 The LEGO Group.

© 2013 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All rights reserved. 

© 2013 Viacom International, Inc. All rights reserved. Nickelodeon, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES and all related titles, logo and characters are trademarks of Viacom International Incorporated. Based on characters created by Peter Laird and Kevin Eastman.

© Disney Enterprises, Inc. and Jerry Bruckheimer, Inc. LONE RANGER TM & Classic Media.

DC Universe and all related characters are elements or trademarks of and © DC Comics. (s13)

TM and © 2013 MARVEL  & Subs.

© NLP ™ Middle-earth Ent. Lic. To New Line. (s13)

THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG™: © WBEI ™ Middle-earth Ent. Lic. To New Line. (s13)

¹ The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service
² The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service
³ The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service
⁴ Internal Analysis of The NPD Group / Retail Tracking Service
⁵ LEGO Systems, Inc. proprietary research

MEDIA CONTACT:
Michael McNally
LEGO Systems, Inc.
860-830-5885 / [email protected]

SOURCE LEGO Systems, Inc.