Another brick in the windfall - Lego builds record revenues

Plastic toy brick maker Lego has recorded a net profit rose of £4.4 billion, its highest ever revenue, though growth has slowed globally.

Lego’s full year revenue grew 6 per cent to 37.9 billion kroner (£4.4 billion), the highest figure in the company's 85-year history.

Its profit for the full year was DKr 9.4 billion (£1.1billion), compared with DKr 9.2 billion (£1.08 billion) in 2015.

Lego’s British chief executive Bali Padda said he was "satisfied" with Lego's performance, adding that sales growth in the last six months of 2016 "was at more sustainable levels than previous years".

The toy maker was "encouraged" by sales in Europe, saw "strong potential" in China but sales were flat in US markets. This year Lego will attempt to boost its engagement with American youth with ‘Lego Life’ and ‘Lego Boost’ programs, a safe networking app, and coding education tool respectively.

"We will continue to work closely with our retail partners to identify new opportunities to innovate, drive growth and engage children in this important market," said Padda.

Padda took over on January 1 from Joergen Vig Knudstorp, Lego's chief executive for the previous 12 years.

Knudstorp, who in 2004 became the first non-family member to head the group, is credited with making the company profitable again.

"Innovation is critical to our success and each year around 60 per cent of our portfolio is new products," added Padda.

The group said that, on the whole, about 75 billion Lego pieces were sold in 2016 in more than 140 countries. The rebounding price of oil through 2016 had little effect on figures, as Lego uses more specialised polymer resins.