Star Wars and Harry Potter Lego products have helped the toy company record a sharp rise in profits, Sky News reported.
Lego says its licensed goods were the driving force behind earnings of £484m in 2011 – up from £428m the previous year.
The performance would have been better, the firm said, had it not been for slowing sales in Western Europe in the run up to Christmas. It expects slightly weaker growth overall in 2012.
Sales passed the £2bn pound mark in its last financial year – a rise of 17% on 2010.
Lego said sales of its classic lines such as LEGO City also rose sharply, while LEGO Ninjago, the Group’s major product launch in 2011 which combined traditional building sets and so-called spinners, became its biggest product introduction ever.
However, LEGO Universe – the online game launched in late 2010 – fell below expectations and development was halted. The results bolster the view among analysts that strong, traditional brands have been largely unaffected by the economic uncertainty.
Firms are looking to emerging markets for growth as family budgets remain squeezed in North America and Europe where strong discounting has helped maintain sales growth.
