School’s out, summer holidays are in, and grocers have filled up their power aisles with Back-to-School ranges. I bet kids across the length and breadth of the UK are absolutely thrilled: “Yay, it’s summer, what shall we do mum?” “How about we go to Tesco and buy some stuff for when you go back to school?” (Cue much eye rolling and muttering…).
However, even though the summer holidays have begun, the traditional toy community summer lull hasn’t fully kicked in yet. There is plenty going on beneath the surface in the toy market, if you know where to look – and I have been looking far and wide to save you the trouble.
There have been reports in Italy that the Giochi Preziosi restructuring process is moving closer to being resolved. One article I read suggested that GP’s main manufacturing Chinese partner Superhisen is poised to become the majority shareholder through an 80m Euro capital injection. The proposed deal, which is subject to court approval, would mark the end of the Preziosi family’s control of the company, as well as that of Spanish subsidiary Famosa. However, there is a fairly major caveat: apparently additional investment would still be required, as the Superhisen money would not fully cover the company’s current financial shortfall. Given the need for more investors and court approval, there could yet be further twists and turns before the deal is confirmed, but fingers crossed it reaches fruition soon.
Hasbro’s Q2 results, announced earlier this week, were encouraging: the company posted a +16% increase, buoyed by a record performance from Wizards of the Coast. Magic: The Gathering achieved $500m in quarterly revenue for the first time in its 30-year history, with further growth predicted this year and next. Consumer Products revenue was also up + 5% despite disruption from a horrendous hacking incident, which could have been calamitous had it not been tackled swiftly and decisively. Many other toy companies and businesses are probably thinking ‘There but by the grace of God go I’, as nefarious activity like this is extremely difficult to protect against.
I threatened last week that the Strait of Hormuz would be rearing its ugly head in the Blog again, and with reports suggesting there is a genuine possibility that it won’t fully re-open this year, it is a situation that potentially still has a long way to run. In the short term, shipping has all but stopped, while the price of oil has risen sharply – which will no doubt be followed by an increase in petrol prices any day now.
Read the rest here.
