‘Star Wars’ helps boost Lego’s profit

COPENHAGEN, Denmark - Danish toy maker Lego's six-month profit more than doubled on strong sales of products such as Lego City and Lego Star Wars, despite predictions of a slump in the international toy market.

The Lego Group said today that net profit for the first six months of the year was 564 million kroner ($113.5 million), up from 212 million kroner in 2007.

Revenue in the six months through June 30 was 3.5 billion kroner ($704 million), up from 2.96 billion kroner in the same period last year.

The company, whose colored plastic building blocks have been a favorite children's toy for decades, does not release quarterly figures.

Sales grew especially in the United States and northern Europe, Lego said, with products like Lego City and Lego Star Wars continuing to do better than expected.

The group said its good performance came despite "the fact that the international stagnation forecast at the beginning of the year is now a reality."

"The result demonstrates once again the great strength of our classic product lines and the importance of combining these with new strong licenses," Lego Chief Executive Joergen Vig Knudstorp said.

Lego launched its new licensed line Lego Indiana Jones earlier this year in connection with the world premiere of Steven Spielberg's new film, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

Family-owned Lego Group, which employs about 4,500 people worldwide, is not publicly listed but has published earning reports since 1997.