Live news: Toymaker Hasbro to cut 1,000 jobs after worse than forecast quarter

Hasbro said it would cut 1,000 jobs and announced the departure of its chief operating officer as the US toymaker revealed preliminary results for the fourth-quarter that were worse than previously forecast.

The job cuts, representing about 15 per cent of its global workforce, “are necessary to return our business to a competitive, industry-leading position,” chief executive Chris Cocks said in a statement on Thursday afternoon.

Hasbro said they would help keep the company on track to achieve its goal, as part of a plan announced last October, of $250mn to $300mn in annual cost savings by the end of 2025.

The company, which makes Monopoly board games and Transformers toys, said chief operating officer Eric Nyman would depart as a result of the organisational and commercial changes. The company said in its most recent annual report it employed 6,640 people worldwide.

In preliminary results released on Thursday, Hasbro said revenue in 2022 was about $5.86bn, down 9 per cent from a year ago, or a 6 per cent drop in constant currency terms. That was worse than its October forecast, when it cut its full-year outlook, and analysts’ expectations for more than $6.1bn.

The company also had a weak holiday season, which is typically a crucial sales time for toymakers and retailers. Hasbro’s revenue in the three months ended December 26 of $1.68bn, was down 17 per cent from a year earlier and below Wall Street’s median forecast for $1.92bn.

Hasbro shares fell more than 7 per cent in after-hours trading in New York on Thursday. At the end of the regular session, its shares were up 4.5 per cent since the start of 2023, but have shed about 29 per cent over the past 12 months.