Mattel to Cut 200 Jobs in El Segundo

Toy maker Mattel Inc. is cutting more than 200 jobs, mostly through layoffs at its El Segundo headquarters, as part of the company’s consolidation of its boys and girls unit and preschool division.

In a Thursday filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Mattel said it would take a $10-million to $13-million charge in the first quarter as a result of the job cuts, which will affect about 1% of the company’s workforce.

After several quarters of declining sales for Barbie, Mattel’s largest and most profitable line, the company said in October that it would combine its Mattel Brands toys with its East Aurora, N.Y.-based Fisher-Price infant and preschool toys. The new unit is headed by former Fisher-Price leader Neil B. Friedman.

Although the Fisher-Price division will remain in New York, the consolidation of the two units has created some overlap, the company said.

“We had to take a look at those redundancies and this was part of it,” said Mattel spokeswoman Lisa Marie Bongiovanni. “It was across the board in terms of level of positions and all types of departments were affected.”

Some of the cuts will come from attrition, Bongiovanni said, but the majority were layoffs.

Mattel said Monday that net income fell 1.8% and sales were flat during the fourth quarter.

In addition to an 18% decline in domestic Barbie sales during the holiday season, Mattel said its boys’ toys also suffered, with sales of Hot Wheels, Matchbox and Tyco R/C products down 7%.

For the full year, Mattel also battled higher raw material costs and increased sales of lower-margin toys, the company said. Mattel earned $417 million in 2005 -- including a $107-million charge related to taxes on foreign earnings -- compared with $572.7 million in 2004.

Mattel shares fell 17 cents to $16.38.