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Media Watch: Hasbro Keeps Growing in Slow Economy
SeekingAlpha.com has published a transcript of Hasbro’s Q4 2008 earnings call, that is, a report by company executives as to the state of business. Here’s the relevant section on games:
Board games were up 2% while the total games and puzzle category was flat compared to a year ago. We did have tough comparisons due to shipments of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader in 2007. There were a number of successes in the games category primarily from brands we targeted for reinvention with products like Twister Hop Scotch, Guess Who Extra, Sorry Sliders, Monopoly Here and Now the World Edition and the 60th Anniversary Edition of Scrabble. In addition, Pictureka was launched globally and performed very well.
Overall Hasbro met its revenue goal for 2008, despite a sluggish U.S. and world economy. For the year, revenue grew 5%, going from $3.8 billion in 2007 to $4 billion. Check out the entire transcript for a taste of Hasbro’s outlook for 2009 and beyond.
Posted by W. Eric Martin on Feb 10, 2009 at 11:30 PM in Game News, Media Watch / 750
Comments:
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Always amusing when toys are discussed at the business level. I like that Hasbro aggressively moved their price points to find buyers at the appropriate levels… with the price of petroleum down for an extended period, I find it interesting that most boardgame manufacturers are still holding on their rate hikes of six months ago. Thoughts? Posted by Ryan B. on Feb 11, 2009 at 09:45 PM | #
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Ryan, Hasbro wants – no, needs – to turn product every quarter. Its inventory is vast compared to hobby game publishers, and it can’t afford to sit on stock and wait for the economy to get better, especially since its customer base is extremely price sensitive. For all that hobby gamers complain about prices and flock to online retailers to save $20, they are buying games that cost far more than the latest Hasbro issuance. Why are they still buying, despite price increases? Because they want a particular game from a particular designer and publisher, and in the long run another $5-10 isn’t that big a deal. Eric Posted by W. Eric Martin on Feb 11, 2009 at 11:55 PM | #
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Eric, RE: Rate Hikes: That’s a theory (and one I wouldn’t necessarily quibble with) but what is the data to back up that assertion? Since most boardgame manufacturers/distributors are privately held companies, I don’t know what we can say with any degree of certainty. Posted by Ryan B. on Feb 12, 2009 at 02:22 PM | #
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