Barbie doll maker warns of higher prices as costs rise

The toy giant Mattel has warned of higher prices in the lead up to Christmas as the industry looks to soften the blow of rising costs.

The comments come after a rise in raw materials and shipping, owing in part to the global pandemic.

However, the company still posted better than expected sales figures of more than $1b (£720m).

Sales for the period this year were up 40 per cent on the same period last year.

Mattel, as with other industry giants such as Hasbro, is having to navigate out of a pandemic that saw its shops close and supply chains cut off.

“We will be looking at increasing prices in the second half of [the] year,” Mattel’s chief executive Ynon Kreiz said.

Kreiz stressed that Mattel would not be the only company to make such a move, and said that it was a necessary measure for those within the toy industry.

“We’re not the only ones who did it, in our industry everyone did – and no-one is surprised by [price increases],” he said.

Kreiz’s comments came as the company unveiled results that beat Wall Street predictions.

They were boosted in particular by Barbie’s continued popularity. The doll saw a 46 per cent rise in billings.

Kreiz said that the company had encountered shipping issues, but had emerged from them owing to the size of the brand.

“We were able to leverage our size and partnerships that we have with our vendors and retail partners and mitigate some of these issues, so we did not have any impact on our business in the second quarter,” he said.

Hasbro, a rival toy maker, had announced better than expected net revenues of $1.32bn (£951m), a rise of 54 per cent on Monday.