Spin Master Q4 revenue up 7.9% but toy maker ended the year down from last year

TORONTO — Spin Master Corp. says revenue during its latest quarter, which covered the key holiday season, was up 7.9 per cent from a year earlier, but the company’s revenue for its fiscal 2023 overall were down 5.7 per cent compared with the previous year.

The Toronto-based toymaker says its fourth-quarter revenue reached US$502.6 million as the holiday shopping season was underway and viewers continued to watch “Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie.”

Its entertainment revenue for the period ended Dec. 31 saw the biggest boost with a 76.9 per cent surge from last year to US$55.2 million as it released new “Unicorn Academy,” “Rubble & Crew” and “Vida the Vet” content.

Digital games revenue increased 7.1 per cent to US$40.6 million due to higher in-game purchases in “Toca Life World”and higher subscription revenue from “Piknik” and “Paw Patrol Academy.”

Spin Master recorded toy revenue of US$406.8 million, a 2.5 per cent increase from a year earlier, while its toy gross product sales rose 4.8 per cent to US$502.3 million.

The company ended the year with US$1.9 billion in revenue, lower than the roughly $2 billion it saw the year before. Its toy revenue alone dropped 11.3 per cent, but entertainment revenue saw a 60 per cent increase and digital games revenue posted a 6.1 per cent jump.

Spin Master cautioned that the numbers are both preliminary and unaudited because the company expects to release its full financial results at the end of the month.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Sabahat Khan says Spin Master’s revenue was “modestly short of forecasts,” but in line with U.S. toy sales, which dropped eight per cent from 2023, and global sales, which fell seven per cent over the same period.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 14, 2024.

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The Canadian Press