COPENHAGEN, March 9 (Xinhua) -- Danish toymaker Lego Group released on Thursday its financial results for 2016, reporting a revenue of 37.9 billion Danish kroner, the highest in the company's 85-year history.
The full-year revenue represents a growth of 6 percent against the previous year's 35.8 billion kroner (5.09 billion U.S. dollars), the company said in a statement.
Operating profit (profit before financial items and tax) for 2016 was 12.4 billion kroner, up 1.7 percent from 12.2 billion kroner for 2015, while net profit for the full year was 9.4 billion kroner compared with 9.2 billion kroner in 2015.
"We are satisfied with our performance in 2016. We had a strong first half of the year, while consumer sales growth in the second half was at more sustainable levels than previous years," said Lego CEO Bali Padda.
Padda said China represents growth opportunities with strong potential.
"We were encouraged by our performance in mature markets in Europe and continue to see strong potential in China, which represents an attractive growth opportunity," Padda said.
In November last year, Lego opened its new factory in Jiaxing, China, employing about 1,200 people there. It is the company's fifth factory in the world and first in Asia.
In 2017, the company will introduce new platforms to inspire blended digital and physical play.
"Our long-term ambition is to provide the opportunity for millions more children around the world to benefit from Lego play experiences, especially in emerging markets," Padda said. (1 U.S. dollar=7.03 Danish kroner)
