Hasbro beats analyst expectations in 2Q

NERF SALES HELPED boost boys toy sales in the second quarter for Hasbro, the Pawtucket toymaker said. / BLOOMBERG NEWS/DANIEL ACKER
NERF SALES HELPED boost boys toy sales in the second quarter for Hasbro, the Pawtucket toymaker said. / BLOOMBERG NEWS/DANIEL ACKER

PAWTUCKET – Jurassic World and Nerf products helped Hasbro Inc. boost profit in the second quarter, but revenue was dragged down by lower sales in the games and girls segments.
The toymaker beat analyst expectations, with profit of $40.3 million, or 33 cents per diluted share, in the quarter that ended June 28, compared with $32.8 million, or 26 cents per diluted share, during the year-ago period. Analysts expected 29 cents per share.
Revenue was $797.7 million, versus $829.3 million in the 2014 second quarter, a 4 percent decline due in part to lower sales in the games and girls segments.
Among the four segments – boys, games, girls and preschool – boys and preschool had gains of 1 percent and 14 percent respectively, while games and girls fell 6 percent and 22 percent, respectively.
Boys revenue was $340.4 million, fueled by a year-over-year gain in Nerf, as well as sales of Jurassic World, Star Wars and Marvel products. The company said the increases offset declines in Transformers.
Jurassic World products also fueled preschool revenue, which was $118.1 million, the company said.
The drop in girls revenue to $127.5 million was due to lower Furby sales, as well as My Little Pony and Nerf Rebelle. Play-Doh Dohvinci and Disney Descendants partially offset those declines, Hasbro said. Games fell to $211.6 million, with fewer Magic: The Gathering sales.
Deborah Thomas, Hasbro’s chief financial officer, said second-quarter results came with “numerous challenges,” including a significant negative foreign exchange impact and difficult year-over-year comparisons in several brands.
“Even with these challenges we delivered a strong second quarter and a good first half of 2015. We continue to make important investments across our business to promote brand initiatives and to further improve the global efficiency of Hasbro. Some of these investments will be more prominent in the second half of 2015 than they were in the first six months of the year,” she said.
Brian Goldner, Hasbro’s chairman, president and CEO, said the second-quarter results continued a “strong start to the year.” He noted the company’s recent decision to sell its final manufacturing locations. The company last week signed a letter of intent to sell its East Longmeadow, Mass., and Waterford, Ireland, manufacturing plants to the Cartamundi Group in Belgium.
“We are well positioned for the remainder of 2015, but importantly we continue to develop our capabilities for the long-term execution of our strategy toward unlocking the full potential value of our brands,” Goldner said.

U.S. and Canada revenue increased 1 percent to $385.2 million, while International revenue dropped 9 percent to $362.8 million in the second quarter.

The company increased its cash dividend for the period to 46 cents per share from 43 cents per share. The company also saw more than double the amount of cash flow from operations in the first six months of the year, rising from $109.3 million to $236.1 million in a year-over-year comparison.

No posts to display