Hasbro's Profit Beats Estimates On Strong Demand For Girls' Toys

Toymaker Hasbro Inc reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit, helped by strong demand for its toys for girls.

Sales of girls' toys such as My Little Pony and Nerf Rebelle increased 21 percent to $138.7 million in the first quarter ended March 30.

The girls' toys business accounted for 20.4 percent of total revenue in the quarter, up from 17.3 percent a year earlier.

Revenue from boys' toys, the company's largest business category, rose 2 percent, while revenue from preschool toys and games both fell 4 percent.

Larger rival Mattel Inc last week reported its first quarterly net loss in nearly five years due to a double-digit fall in sales of its Barbie dolls.

Hasbro's first-quarter revenue rose 2 percent to $679.5 million, falling short of the average analyst estimate of $690.17 million. International revenue rose 5 percent to $305.5 million.

Net income was $32.1 million, or 24 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $6.7 million, or 5 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned 14 cents per share.

Analysts on average had expected a profit of 10 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.