Hasbro's quarterly revenue rises 7%, says Toys'R'Us collapse will hit holiday sales
Oct 23 (Reuters) - Hasbro Inc. (NASDAQ:HAS) warned on Monday of weaker holiday-season sales due to the bankruptcy of its largest customer Toys'R'Us, while reporting higher-than-expected quarterly results on demand for My Little Pony and Transformers toys.
The company said its revenue for the current quarter will increase 4 percent to 7 percent over last year's $1.63 billion. That translates to $1.7 billion to $1.74 billion, below the average analyst estimate of $1.82 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Toys'R'Us, the largest toy retail chain in the United States, filed for bankruptcy in September with $5 billion due to creditors such as Mattel and Hasbro. The bankruptcy raised fears that the toymakers would be unable to sell inventories during the key holiday season.
Hasbro said its third-quarter revenue and operating profit were already affected by the bankruptcy, but still posted a 3 percent increase in profit and a 7 percent rise in revenue.
The company reported a profit of $265.6 million, or $2.09 per share, for the quarter and revenue of $1.79 billion, helped by strong demand for games such as Monopoly and Magic: The Gathering and toys based on its successful My Little Pony franchise.
Analysts on average had expected sales of $1.78 billion and a profit of $1.94 per share.
(Reporting by Gayathree Ganesan; editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)