The Irish arm of Lego grew its revenue by 16 per cent last year after the world’s largest toymaker opened a second store here.
Lego Ireland generated €9.4 million for the year ended December 31st, 2024, up from €8 million the year before.
Gross profit was up 36 per cent to €3.9 million, compared with €2.9 million in 2023, driven primarily by higher revenues and a full year of trading from the second store.
A second Lego store opened in Dublin in October 2023 in the Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, just over a year after the brand opened its first store in the Republic on Grafton Street.
The company recorded a profit after tax of €100,112 for the year compared to a profit of €3,962 in 2023. The group’s net assets were €807,264, up from €707,152.
The directors said they were “satisfied” with the financial performance for the year, but did not propose to pay a dividend.
The group described Ireland as a “new market”, and said the outlook for 2025 was for single-digit revenue growth. It said it plans to invest in initiatives which address “evolving trends and are designed to deliver growth in the long-term”.
It said its most significant risks relate to the “volatility in the toy market” and “uncertainties” in relation to the launch of new product concepts. The overall risk exposure was described as “moderate”.
The monthly average number of people employed by the company during the year was 66, which was up from 50. The group spent €1.7 million on staff, up from €1 million.
Lego is paying up to 60 per cent more for plastic resin made mostly from renewable or recycled material after the Danish giant intensified efforts last year to become fossil-free, a move financed by big increases in sales and profitability.
Niels Christiansen, chief executive, said 30 per cent of all the resin the toymaker bought in the first half came from so-called mass-balance sources, meaning it used a blend of fossil-fuel material and recycled or renewable sources, such as used cooking oil.
“It is 40 to 50 to 60 per cent more expensive in material terms,” he said. “We don’t pass that on to the consumer. It comes out of our Ebit [operating profit] line.”
He added that Lego was trying to stimulate demand among plastics producers to increase the supply of greener raw materials by buying significant volumes of the resin made from mass-balance sources, up from 18 per cent the year before.
