In their financial report, Hasbro attributes growth in the WotC and Digital Gaming segment to strong growth in both Magic: The Gathering and Dungeons & Dragons.
By way of comparison, Hasbro Gaming sales, which includes sales of games other than Magic: The Gathering, Dungeons & Dragons and Monopoly, were down 3% in this quarter, although that is largely because the segment showed very high numbers in Q1 2020. Total Gaming, which includes Magic, Monopoly, and all the other game titles, was up 7% from 2020.
Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner also pointed to a number of factors that are impacting profits in the company’s overall toy and game sector. COVID-19 is still impacting freight capacity around the world, so higher logistics costs is affecting the profitability of hard consumer products in general, and toys are no exception to the rule.
Goldner and the Hasbro team are communicating the news that there will be price increases on Hasbro toy and game products for its customers.
In terms of dollars, Hasbro’s consumer products continued to generate the most revenue at $653.9 million, up 14% from the same period last year, with an operating profit of $32.3 million. That was a major improvement over the $9.7 million loss in that segment last year.
Wizards of the Coast and Digital Gaming brought in $242.2 million, up 15% from last year, with $110 million in profit.
The company’s entertainment division didn’t fare as well, with revenues falling 32% from $322.5 million to $218.7 million. However, there was some good news, as the Entertainment division (primarily consisting of eOne) posted a $17 million profit, while pandemic restrictions on movie theatres and on film or TV production resulted in a $64.3 million loss in Q1 2020.
Goldner also briefly discussed the sale of eOne Music, saying the $385 million garnered from the sale will be used to pay down corporate debt.