Scandal in sight at Playmobil? Since its creation in 1974, figurines for children have never stopped making people dream all over the world. But behind the scenes of its making, it looks a little less shiny today. Internally, tensions increase in the German manufacturer in a context of commercial crisis. So much so that managing director Steffen Höpfner announced his departure on Thursday.
In the grip of financial difficulties, the holding company named after the brand’s founder, Horst Brandstatter, had begun a restructuring earlier this year. He had used the services of the consulting firm McKinsey to help her find new levers for growth. At the same time, the group had also appointed a new leader, Bahri Kurter, at the helm of its Playmobil activity, German media reported in particular. Nuremberger Nachrichten, in March 2023.
“Fear and Humiliation”
But, just a few months later, the results are more than mixed for the toy brand. the german media Store manager In fact, he had access to a letter signed by the company’s unions and addressed to management. In this letter, employee organizations denounce a toxic climate set up by management to push employees to leave. They evoke “the fear and humiliation” suffered by the staff, the newspaper broadcast this Thursday the echoes.
Given the leak of these internal elements in the German press, the head of the Steffen Höpfner group informed the employees of his resignation in a letter sent this Thursday, reports Store manager. He will resign at the end of the month.
Billing falls 4.3%
The internal conflict at Playmobil follows a sharp slowdown in the group’s activity. Between 2021 and 2022, the group’s consolidated turnover contracted by 4.3%, reports the echoes, until reaching 691 million euros. Its sales fell 2.8% for the year ended March, it also indicates Der Spiegel. A decline that contrasts sharply with the success of its Danish competitor Lego. The World’s Number One Registered Toy Company a 4% increase in net profit in 2022.
It is a combination of several factors that has led the manufacturer to a drop in performance in recent years. Rising raw materials, exploding logistics costs, shortages of electronic components… Toy manufacturers, such as Playmobil, have had to face dizzying costs this year. These increases also passed through to sales prices, causing toy prices to skyrocket late last year.
Activity drop in parks and withdrawal from Russia
The withdrawal from the Russian market, announced in March 2022, in response to the invasion in Ukraine, also had an impact on the group’s turnover. With his two companies Playmobil and Lechuza (which makes pots), Horst Brandstatter “had forecast sales of around 10 million euros for the two companies” in this market in 2022, according to a press release.
Before, the health crisis had already begun to affect the economic health of the group by weakening its activity in amusement parks. These sites, baptized as Fun Park, had registered “considerable losses of income”, specifies the annual report of the holding company dated March 2023, cited by the echoes.
And the steam really shouldn’t reverse this year. Those responsible for the company foresee a new drop in billing in 2023, due to inflation and the drop in demand that it should cause.
A context that will undoubtedly be a great challenge for the successor to Steffen Höpfner. At the moment, the identity of the person who will take the helm from Horst Brandstatter is not yet known.
Source: BFM TV
