Source: Spin Master

Spin Master Corp. faced a familiar plight for the second quarter of 2020 as the toy and entertainment company battled against the challenging conditions of business in the COVID-19 era.

While the toy industry as a whole showed a 16% sales increase for the first half of the year, major toymakers are experiencing declines in sales and overall revenue as retailers moved through stock on hand as certain categories spiked in waves.

The Toronto-based toy and entertainment company reported a 10.9% sales decrease in Q2 alongside a 12.4% decline in overall revenue versus the same period last year. Sales in North America increased slightly, while sales in Europe dropped 21.6% and the rest of the world had a whopping 42.4% decline. Bright spots include a 19.2% sales increase across activities, games and puzzles, and plush, and a 9.1% sales increase for outdoor toys. Gross product sales for the first half of the year were down 5.9%.

“This quarter, we demonstrated meaningful progress toward resolving the operational challenges we experienced in 2019,” says Ronnen Harary, co-CEO, Spin Master. “We are incredibly proud of the global Spin Master team, who remained focused on driving improvements across the company, while also managing through the complexity of COVID-19 for the full quarter. Our performance in the second quarter, which showed strong POS across most of our key brands, highlights the resilience of the toy industry, the strength of our diversified portfolio of brands, entertainment franchises, and digital toys, and our global platform. This is underpinned by our strong financial base, which positions us well for long term success.”

Spin Master says that sales declines in PAW Patrol, Twisty Pets, DreamWorks Dragons, Bakugan, and Hatchimals have been offset by growth in other lines, including DC Comics-licensed products, Tech Deck, Monster Jam R/C, Kinetic Sand, and its games and puzzles portfolio.

Spin Master has a fresh product lineup waiting in the wings for fall that should benefit from the increased traffic at POS that retailers and other toymakers are reporting.

“Looking forward, global economies are reopening, but risk remains elevated and we are taking a cautiously optimistic approach to the second half,” Harary says. “New opportunities continue to emerge, and we are prepared to take advantage as they arise.”

About the author

James Zahn

James Zahn

James Zahn, AKA The Rock Father, is Editor-in-Chief of The Toy Book, a Senior Editor at The Toy Insider and The Pop Insider, and Editor of The Toy Report, The Toy Book‘s weekly industry newsletter. As a pop culture and toy industry expert, Zahn has appeared as a panelist and guest at events including Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC) Wizard World Chicago, and the ASTRA Marketplace & Academy. Zahn has more than 30 years of experience in the entertainment, retail, and publishing industries, and is frequently called upon to offer expert commentary for publications such as Forbes, Marketwatch, the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, USA Today, Reuters, the Washington Post, and more. James has appeared on History Channel’s Modern Marvels, was interviewed by Larry King and Anderson Cooper, and has been seen on Yahoo! Finance, CNN, CNBC, FOX Business, NBC, ABC, CBS, WGN, The CW, and more. Zahn joined the Adventure Media & Events family in 2016, initially serving as a member of the Parent Advisory Board after penning articles for the Netflix Stream Team, Fandango Family, PBS KIDS, Sprout Parents (now Universal Kids), PopSugar, and Chicago Parent. He eventually joined the company full time as a Senior Editor and moved up the ranks to Deputy Editor and Editor-in-Chief.

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