Hasbro heads for the loo, and business booms
PAWTUCKET, R.I. — Business for Hasbro is in the toilet, which turns out to be a pretty good place.
The toymaker’s revenue surpassed that of its rival Mattel for the first time in 17 years thanks in part to hot sales of a new board game called Toilet Trouble.
“I never thought I would actually get to talk about this on an earnings call but, you know, Toilet Trouble is off to a very good start,” CEO Brian Goldner told analysts Monday after putting up very strong first-quarter numbers.
Profit in the quarter jumped 41 percent on rising demand for both mobile games and classics like Monopoly, which saw classic player pieces like the wheelbarrow, thimble and boot replaced by a dinosaur, a penguin and a rubber ducky.
The game Toilet Trouble follows another Hasbro game that became a viral sensation. In the earlier release, called Pie Face, players can get hit with a face full of whipped cream. In Toilet Trouble, players in the board game take turns flushing a plastic toilet that spits water at their faces.
Shares of Hasbro Inc. touched an all-time high Monday, extending a shift in fortunes in the toy industry for the Pawtucket, Rhode Island, company.
Rival Mattel reported a disappointing first quarter last week. The maker of Barbie dolls and Hot Wheel cars lost the rights to sell Disney’s princess toys to Hasbro in late 2014. Hasbro started producing the dolls last year and company shares are up about 31 percent so far in 2017. Shares of Mattel Inc. have fallen about 22 percent in the same period.
Hasbro said its best performing toys during the first quarter were its games. Revenue for its gaming business soared 43 percent from a year ago.
Hasbro reported net income of $68.6 million, or 54 cents per share, in the three months ending April 2. That’s up from $48.8 million, or 38 cents per share, a year ago.