THERE'S NO JOY IN TOY LAND MATTEL STOCK DIPS; BARBIE SALES OFF.Byline: Brent Hopkins Staff Writer EL SEGUNDO El Segundo (ĕl sēgŭn`dō), industrial city (1990 pop. 15,223), Los Angeles co., S Calif., on Santa Monica Bay; inc. 1917. Its products include navigation and computer systems, aircraft parts, office machines, telephone apparatus, and - As Barbie slips, so follows her maker. Mattel Inc. reported Friday that its first-quarter profits plummeted nearly 28 percent, dragged down by flagging sales of its flagship doll. Sales fell 15 percent for the pink princess, while Hot Wheels Hot Wheels is a brand of die cast toy car, introduced by American toymaker Mattel in 1968. It was the primary competitor of Johnny Lightning and Matchbox until 1996, when Mattel acquired rights to the Matchbox brand from Tyco. fell 5 percent and Fisher-Price stayed flat. Though Mattel said it was winning some market share from rivals, it acknowledged that it had to repair the brand image of the signature toy. ``We still have work to do on Barbie,'' said chairman and chief executive officer Bob Eckert in a conference call. ``I said that last quarter ... when we had a better holiday season and the early numbers certainly support that.'' Total revenue for the quarter improved only slightly to $783.1 million from $780.9 million a year ago. Earnings fell to $6.5 million, 2 cents per share Cents per share The amount of a mutual fund's dividend or capital gains distributions that a shareholder will receive for each share owned. , from $9 million, 2 cents per share, in the same period of 2004. Analysts polled by Thomson/First Call expected 3 cents per share on sales of $804.3 million. Eckert said record high oil prices could pose future pressure to earnings. If prices don't subside sub·side intr.v. sub·sid·ed, sub·sid·ing, sub·sides 1. To sink to a lower or normal level. 2. To sink or settle down, as into a sofa. 3. To sink to the bottom, as a sediment. 4. from the $50 range, he raised the possibility of raising toy prices, as well. After Barbie appeared to be gaining momentum late last year, analyst Sean McGowan Sean Michael McGowan (born December 21st, 1980) is one of the few American writers to publish photographic novels (similar to photo novels in that they are both literary and graphic, yet distinguished from them by using photography instead of illustrations). expected her to maintain her sales or improve slightly. The other weaknesses didn't concern him as much, but said Mattel must improve on the key doll to boost future sales. ``It's a little bit like saying, except pitching and hitting, the Mets are fine,'' said McGowan, managing director of the New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of investment bank Harris Nesbitt. ``There are other things, but they don't matter anywhere as much as Barbie does. If that was up and everything else was down, they'd be fine.'' Eckert addressed this, saying that dolls like the MyScene Barbie and Fashion Fever Fashion Fever is the 7th episode of Princess Gwenevere and the Jewel Riders' second season. It's high fashion and high-jinx as the annual charity fashion show opens at the Crystal Palace fair grounds. had done ``OK,'' while CaliGirl and Happy Family were ``clearly disappointing.'' He pledged to continue the successful marketing campaigns that led to the holiday success and said the Fairytopia DVD DVD: see digital versatile disc. DVD in full digital video disc or digital versatile disc Type of optical disc. The DVD represents the second generation of compact-disc (CD) technology. package could help bolster Barbie going forward. ``When we walk and talk and chew gum simultaneously, we make progress,'' he said. ``We did that broadly last fall, and we did it this spring in some segments like Fairytopia. When we don't have everything working together in sync, we're disappointed.'' Mattel shares closed down $1.56 on Friday, down nearly 8 percent to $18.67. Brent Hopkins, (818) 713-3738 brent.hopkins(at)dailynews.com |
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