Playmobil manufacturer Brandstätter Group with record sales

[JLMatterer]

Zirndorf (dpa / lby) - The Playmobil manufacturer Brandstätter Group has reported the most successful year in the company's history. In the financial year that ended in March, a sales record was achieved with total worldwide sales of over 758 million euros, as the geobra Brandstätter Stiftung & Co. KG, based in the Franconian town of Zirndorf near Nuremberg, announced on Thursday.

The Playmobil brand contributed to this with a 3.9 percent increase in sales. In contrast, the leisure area with the “Playmobil FunParks” had to report a loss of sales of around eleven million euros due to the restrictions caused by the corona.

The planter manufacturer Lechuza, which also belongs to the Brandstätter Group, has achieved record sales and thus made a positive contribution to the group result for the first time since its market launch in 2000.

The major challenges in the past twelve months were mastered in Germany and most other countries without short-time work. In the current financial year, the group, which is reported to be active in more than 100 countries, wants to continue on its growth path: "We have grown profitably, but still see many opportunities and potentials that need to be exploited now," emphasized CEO Steffen Höpfner.

© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210513-99-584661 / 2

[Oliver]

I thought everything was going terribly and they had a string of expensive flops on their hands 

[Erik]

Finally good news for a change! 

[JLMatterer]

The Playmobil plant in Onil invoices 12% less but maintains the profit in 2020

05/13/2021 -
ALICANTE. The Playmobil  plant in Onil, where the German multinational has its Spanish subsidiary, completed a good year in the year that closed in March 2020, just in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic, despite the fact that the previous Christmas had already been complicated by the general drop in sales. Playmobil Ibérica's annual accounts reflect a 12% drop in its business volume , which fell to 62.3 million euros (compared to 71.9 million the previous year).

However, the Spanish subsidiary of the multinational maintained a positive operating result and the financial operations carried out by the parent company allowed it to close the year prior to the pandemic with a profit of 2.5 million euros  after taxes, with only a slight decline compared to the 3 million of the previous year. During the fiscal year closed in March 2020, in addition, Playmobil Ibérica made the majority of its workforce permanent (a year earlier it was only half): 33 men and 38 women, according to the accounts memory.

The Onil factory produces in Spain the well-known toys of the German brand, which has recovered its verve thanks to the licenses. Thus, Spirit  and Ghostbusters products worked especially well , and the Onil-based firm decided last year to incorporate new licenses, such as Back to the Future or Heidi , which have also been well received. Despite everything, the weak 2019 Christmas campaign already impacted the accounts of the Alicante firm before the pandemic broke out, in the last two weeks of its fiscal year.

During the state of alarm, the company continued to operate normally in its production plant, at the entrance to Onil, but nevertheless applied an ERTE to the five employees of the own store that it manages in Madrid (the FunStore  in the Plaza shopping center Norte, San Sebastián de los Reyes) and several members of his commercial team, who rejoined their positions with the end of the restrictions of this first stage. The 2020 accounts anticipate the possible impact of the pandemic in the current year, but do not quantify it.

[collectobart]

I like to think that a company that can make negative employer reviews on "kununu.de" disappear like snow in the sun, is also able to make good numbers appear with similar ease. The question is: does it reflect reality?

[Tiermann]

With the pandemic there will be all sorts of anomalies in sales reports. One year is too narrow a focus, the question is how are they handling the long term trends?

[Macruran]

Lechuza hasn't turned a profit in 20 years? 

[GrahamB]

I like to think that a company that can make negative employer reviews on "kununu.de" disappear like snow in the sun, is also able to make good numbers appear with similar ease. The question is: does it reflect reality?

I too wonder whether Geobra's management practices bear close scrutiny, especially when economic growth is pursued so relentlessly. What corners are being cut and who is being exploited? Maltese home workers assembling sets for minimum wage?

[Redmao]

Maybe the global pandemic boosted the sales of toys around the world.
With kids and parents being confined at home, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that more toys were bought just to keep the little ones busy for a few hours while parents work from home.

Maybe I'm searching for something that isn't there and Playmobil did manage to reach their audience.

[Oliver]

Maltese home workers assembling sets for minimum wage?

Let's be honest, the set up in Malta doesn't bear too much examination. The prison labour, the below-minimum wage staff....