Hasbro to lay off 900 more employees amid weak toy sales

By Granth Vanaik

(Reuters) -Hasbro said on Monday it would cut another 900 jobs globally, nearly a year after the toymaker announced it would reduce 15% of its workforce amid weaker sales.

Hasbro had said in January it would cut about 1,000 full-time positions. On Monday, the company said it had already cut 800 jobs.

At the end of 2022, Hasbro had employed about 6,490 people worldwide, according to a regulatory filing. The job cuts announced on Monday take the total layoffs to 1,900, or 29% of its workforce.

Shares of the company were down about 6% in extended trading, while Barbie maker Mattel also slipped more than 1%.

"Market headwinds we anticipated have proven to be stronger and more persistent than planned," CEO Chris Cocks said in an email to employees on Monday.

Consumers worldwide have struggled to cope with persistently high inflation, forcing them to cut back on discretionary spending including toys and focus more on buying essentials.

In October, the company joined rival Mattel in warning of a weak holiday season and indicating that consumers were being frugal heading into the most important period for retailers.

"The headwinds we saw through the first nine months of the year have continued into holiday and are likely to persist into 2024," Cocks added.

The maker of "Transformers" action figures and Monopoly on Monday said that majority of its employees would be notified over the next six months, while the balance would occur over the next year.

Hasbro also said its Providence, Rhode Island office was not being used to its full capacity and the company had decided to exit it at the end of its lease term in January 2025.

Hasbro now expects to deliver gross annual run-rate cost savings of about $350 million to $400 million by the end of 2025, up from its previous estimate of $250 million to $300 million.

(Reporting by Granth Vanaik in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Arunima Kumar; Editing by Maju Samuel)