Toy firm braced for impact of Toys ‘R’ Us bankruptcy in US

Oldham-based toys and games designer and developer Character Group is warning its performance will be negatively impacted by the bankruptcy in the US of Toys ‘R’ Us.

Shares in the company, which makes Peppa Pig and Teletubbies toys in the UK and recently won a Pokemon licence, plummeted 16% yesterday in the wake of the announcement.

Character’s statement said its international sales had been “adversely affected” by several factors, including the Chapter 11 bankruptcy of Toys ‘R’ US in the US and Canada, which has had subsequent “knock-on repercussions in every market where it trades, including the UK”.

As a result the company revised guidance for the year ending August, 2018 and said it is now expected to be “significantly lower than market expectations”.

However, its directors believe it to be a “temporary downturn” and that the group is anticipating a return to its previous growth pattern during the second half of the 2018 calendar year.

It added: “The single biggest factor underpinning our optimism is that during 2018 we shall be introducing exceptionally exciting new products, many developed in-house which, together with the current product portfolio will, the Directors believe, give the Group its strongest ever product line up.”

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