Mattel 4Q Net Falls 46% On 2007 Gain, Slumping Sales

   DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 
 

Mattel Inc.'s (MAT) fourth-quarter net income fell 46% amid a prior-year gain, falling margins and a slump in international sales.

"Our business wasn't immune from the deteriorating economic environment of 2008," Chief Executive Robert A. Eckert said. "In response, our focus for 2009 is on cost and spending reductions and maintaining a strong balance sheet."

In November, Mattel cut 1,000 jobs worldwide, or about 3% of its work force.

The nation's largest toy maker posted on Monday net income of $176.4 million, or 49 cents a share, down from $328.5 million, or 89 cents a share, a year earlier, which included a net 13-cent tax benefit.

Revenue decreased 11% to $1.94 billion, with nearly half the drop due to the stronger dollar.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of 76 cents on revenue of $2.21 billion.

Gross margins fell to 46% from 48%. Many toy retailers had been cutting prices before Christmas in an effort to boost sales amid a challenging holiday season. International sales dropped 20%, while sales in the slumping North American market fell 6%.

Fisher-Price sales fell 10% while Barbie, Mattel's flagship franchise, slumped 21% after a 1% drop in the third quarter. Mattel is working on revamping Barbie for her 50th anniversary this year to try to make the doll fashionable again with older girls, who are dropping her for other, edgier playthings like video games. Sales of Barbie products account for about one-fifth of the company's overall sales.

Sales for the Wheels category - which includes the Hot Wheels, Matchbox and Tyco R/C brands - declined 19%, while the entertainment business, which includes games and puzzles, fell 17%.

American Girl Brands, Mattel's expanding high-end doll unit, saw sales rise 5%.

One potential threat to its doll franchises could be eased through its court victory over MGA Entertainment related to the Bratz dolls that MGA sells but were created by a former Mattel employee while still on the payroll there. Mattel lost one round in the legal fight last month when a federal judge ruled MGA could sell Bratz dolls through 2009 before turning the franchise over to Mattel. The ruling stayed a previous decision that would have forced MGA to give up control as soon as this month.

Mattel's shares closed Friday at $14.19 and haven't traded premarket.

-By Kerry E. Grace, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5089; [e-mail]

Click here to go to Dow Jones NewsPlus, a web front page of today's most important business and market news, analysis and commentary. You can use this link on the day this article is published and the following day.