Lego soars after Hollywood hit

This was around 900 million kroner more than in the previous year. Group CEO Jørgen Vig Knudstorp spoke of the "best year ever" for the Group when presenting the figures in Billund on Wednesday. Lego's turnover is also continuing to soar: at 28.6 billion kroner (4.1 billion Swiss francs), it was 13 percent up on the previous year. In the first half of the year, the Group became the world's largest toy manufacturer. Over the year as a whole, US competitor Mattel is again stronger in terms of turnover at 6 billion dollars (5.7 billion Swiss francs), but earned around 500 million dollars in 2014, less than half that of the Danes.

The boss sings and dances

Lego is already planning new film projects in collaboration with Warner Brothers in order to further outpace the competition in terms of revenue. The Danes have also announced a second part of the Lego film for 2017, whose theme song "Everything Is Awesome" was nominated for an Oscar this year. The story of Emmet, an ordinary brick-builder who becomes a hero, grossed around 469 million dollars worldwide. "Today is one of those days where you wake up and say: everything is great here!" said Knudstorp, who sang and danced with joy in front of journalists on Wednesday. According to the Group, it grew in all markets in 2014. This year, a new block factory in China for the Asian market is to be launched, among other things.

Mattel plans counterattack

According to the company, the "Lego City", "Lego Star Wars" and "Lego Friends" series sold particularly well. Adults are also playing more with the bricks with the famous studs again: The "Lego Creator" product range for an older target group was also more popular in 2014. The US toy giant Mattel, whose former bestsellers "Barbie" and "Ken" have been left behind, does not want to accept the Danes' rise without a fight - and is attacking Lego with the purchase of the building block manufacturer "Mega Brands". It remains to be seen whether the industry leader's plan will work. (SDA)