The LEGO Group has announced the company’s 2023 results, with growth slowing and profit declining following several years of enormous increase in both.
In 2023 the LEGO Group’s revenue grew by 2% to 65,914 DKK, a significantly smaller percentage than in recent years. In 2021, the company’s revenue grew by 27% and in 2022 it grew by 17% – CEO Niels B. Christiansen has been proven correct after stating for several years that growth will stabilise and that the enormous increases are unsustainable. The company, since 2019, has accumulated growth of 71% – so the smaller growth figure in 2023 is unlikely to be causing any panic in Billund.
Operating profit was down in 2023 to 17.1 billion DKK, attributed by the LEGO Group to investment and foreign currency fluctuations. New factories are under construction around the world and the company has significantly increased its digital workforce.
‘We are pleased with our performance given that 2023 was the most negative toy market in more than 15 years,’ said CEO Niels B. Christiansen. ‘We continued to grow on top of three years of extraordinary growth and saw strong momentum in the final quarter of 2023. We significantly outpaced the market, growing share and proving the appeal of our strong, diverse portfolio and the LEGO System in Play.’
The company is pleased to have outpaced the toy industry, which contracted in 2023, meaning that the LEGO Group has increased its market share. Popular, ‘top selling’ themes are identified as City, Technic, Icons, Star Wars and Harry Potter.
‘We know that play provides children with skills that help them achieve their potential,’ said the CEO. ‘We are fortunate to be in a strong financial position to invest in activities that bring learning through play to children around the world and invest for the future, so we can continue to have a positive impact on children for many generations to come.’
In some markets, the average price of LEGO sets sold has decreased, perhaps in response to the significant squeeze on living standards. ‘We have reached more kids, so we have gotten LEGO sets to more kids. And overall, we haven’t seen a decline in the number of sets sold, we’ve seen an increase, but we have in many markets seen a certain decline in the average price, which would kind of hint towards consumers maybe still buying the same amount or more LEGO sets, but maybe buying at a slightly lower price points,’ Niels said.
‘Now the advantage we have in the LEGO Group is with a portfolio of 780 products, we are already well represented at all the different price levels. So in that sense, you can have a great LEGO experience at many different prices.’