Demand for Lego continues to grow globally, pushing up Danish company's sales, profits

Lego says its popular, multi-colored toy blocks continued to be in strong demand last year, particularly in its largest market, the U.S., as well as Britain, France, Russia and China.

The Danish company said Wednesday it invested 3.1 billion kroner in 2014 to locate production closer to core markets and upgrade equipment, including in China, Mexico, Czech Republic, and its core molding plant in Denmark.

Net profit in 2014 increased 15 percent to 7 billion kroner ($1 billion) while revenue reached 28.6 billion kroner ($4.3 billion), up from 25.3 billion kroner a year earlier.

The privately-owned company doesn't release quarterly figures. It is not publicly listed but has published earnings reports since 1997.

Lego employs 12,500 people, up from 11,750 in 2013.