With slipping sales of Barbie and Hot Wheels products, El Segundo-based Mattel has reported a second quarter loss of $56.1 million, or 16 cents a share.
That compared with a $19.1 million loss, or 6 cents a share, the company posted during the period in 2016.
The adjusted loss for this year’s second quarter was 14 cents a share, or about $49 million.
Quarterly revenue rose to $974.5 million, compared with $957.3 million this time last year.
The losses came despite robust sales of “Cars 3” merchandise generated by the popular animation franchise, which were offset by weakened demand for the company’s high-profile brands such as Barbie and Fisher-Price.
Barbie sales declined about 5 percent in the second quarter, compared to the same quarter a year ago, while Hot Wheels sales dipped 6 percent and Fisher-Price toys fell 3 percent.
Mattel has embarked on a rejuvenation effort, focusing on online sales and offering a broader lineup of interactive toys, an effort being pushed by new CEO Margo Georgiadis, who joined Mattel earlier this year from Google.
–City News Service