Jakks Pacific isn’t quite ready to “let it go.” The California-based toymaker’s net sales increased 5% to US$598.6 million for fiscal 2019, boosted by the strength of products related to Disney’s Frozen 2.
In addition to Frozen, brands like Disguise and Nintendo also contributed to growth for the toyco. Adjusted EBITDA for the full year was US$18.9 million, a whopping 721% increase over fiscal 2018.
In the fourth quarter, specifically, net sales increased 15% to the tune of US$152.5 million. Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 2019 was US$3.3 million, compared to US$1.6 million in Q4 2018.
And while a focus on entertainment licenses is currently paying off for the toyco (products related to Frozen 2 drove an 18% increase in net sales in Q3 2019), it has also led to significant declines. Properties like The Incredibles 2, Moana and Tsum Tsum contributed to a 23.8% sales decline in the first quarter of the fiscal year and a 10% drop in Q2 2019.
In November, Jakks Pacific hired former Disney and Mattel exec John Kimble as its new EVP and CFO. The toyco’s previous CFO Brent Novak left the company a little over a year after joining Jakks Pacific in April 2018.
Moving forward, Jakks Pacific will focus on its evergreen categories and new product initiatives. The company expects brands like Disney Princess, Frozen 2 and Nintendo will continue to contribute to growth in 2020.