Toy maker Mattel reports loss in second quarter

Mattel Inc. continued to lose money in the second quarter, but several core brands increased sales as the toy maker tries to turn around its struggling business.

The El Segundo company said worldwide sales for its infant and toddler brand Fisher-Price rose 9%, American Girl climbed 1% and Hot Wheels and Matchbox rose 26%. Sales for Barbie dropped 11% but are up slightly for the year.

Chief Executive Christopher Sinclair, who took over in April, said the company was encouraged by “improved performance across core brands.”

“We made solid progress as we work to return Mattel to improved growth and profitability,” he said in a statement.

For the three months that ended June 30, Mattel reported a net loss of $11.4 million, or 3 cents a share. That’s compared with a net income of $28.3 million, or 8 cents a share, a year earlier. Sales fell to $988.2 million from $1.1 billion a year ago.

Analysts polled by FactSet had expected a loss of 4 cents a share on sales of $995 million.

This is the seventh straight quarter of falling sales for Mattel, which is in the middle of a turnaround effort. The company fired Bryan Stockton as chief executive in January and appointed Sinclair as CEO and Richard Dickson as chief operating officer.

Dickson, who is credited with overseeing Barbie during its last surge of popularity around 2010, has been trying to change the bureaucratic culture that Mattel has blamed for hampering creativity.

In a recent interview, Dickson said he is speeding up decision making and cutting down on a reliance on PowerPoint slides and emails. Mattel has also released toys such as a line of ethnically diverse Barbie dolls this year to woo more shoppers.

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