Over the year as a whole, its results exceeded the records recorded in 2021. The group is seeking to develop in Asia and in particular in China, and is counting on continued growth in 2023.

"With our investments, we expect to continue to gain market share," group CEO Niels Christiansen said in an interview with AFP.

For 2022, net profit amounted to 13.8 billion crowns (1.85 billion euros) while turnover jumped 17% to 64.6 billion crowns, with good performance in Europe and the United States.

Driven by the success of its franchises (Star Wars, Harry Potter) and house glories (Lego Friends, Lego Technic), the performance of the Scandinavian flagship, which has completely withdrawn from the Russian market, has not weakened after two years where its sales had benefited from the confinements linked to the pandemic.

According to Mr. Christiansen, the strategic investments made to diversify the game offer, but also for sales, digitization and sustainability "have made it possible to continue to take market share and (...) to do better than the other market players".

The other big names in the sector are the Americans Hasbro (Transformers, Magic cards, Peppa Pig...) and Mattel (Barbie) or the Japanese Bandai Namco, owner of Pokémon.

Retail sales increased by 12% in 2022, up in all markets, with particularly strong performances in America and Western Europe, noted the group, 75% owned by the family holding company Kirkbi and 25% by the Lego Foundation.

On the walls of the Lego factory in Mexico City, photographed on October 21, 2015, the figurine designed by Jens Nygaard Knudsen © Julio Cesar Aguilar / AFP/Archives

And Lego has made progress where the industry has struggled.

Worldwide, toy sales fell by 1%, welcomed the Danish company.

"The brand is in vogue, the portfolio is very interesting. I think that's what helps us grow in a difficult market," said the group's boss, in office since 2017.

Of the 770 products in Lego's portfolio, the largest ever offered, almost half are new to reflect the spirit of the times.

At the end of the year, the group launched a new range of Lego Friends.

"We let the old Lego Friends minifigures grow and (..) it's now the new generation of their families who are there", underlined Mr. Christiansen.

“It has allowed us to become even more gender inclusive, to have better representation of everyone and to ensure that the Lego Friends truly reflect the world in which young people and children live today”, a- he pleaded, when the question reshuffles the cards of the toy sector.

904 stores

After the lifting of restrictions against Covid-19, Lego, whose name is a contraction of Danish +play well+ (+Leg godt+), continued its strategy of opening new stores.

Over the past year, 155 new stores opened, particularly in China, bringing the number of stores worldwide to 904.

The group is also establishing its online presence.

In 2022, 395 million visits were recorded on LEGO.com, 38% more than in 2021. The "Builder" application, which offers instructions for building 330 kits, also gained popularity, with 13.6 million downloads, a 42% year-on-year increase.

Lego, which is currently making major investments to make its bricks more durable and is gradually abandoning plastic packaging, prides itself on producing its famous toys as close as possible to consumers.

The group, which employs 27,300 people, has just inaugurated a factory presented as carbon neutral in Vietnam.

It joins the five already operational in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Mexico, China and Denmark.

A new factory is under construction in the United States.

In the future, "we expect things to normalize", however admitted to AFP Mr. Christiansen.

Lego will "probably" not repeat a 17% growth like last year.

“We think it will be more of single-digit or high-digit growth,” he said.

© 2023 AFP