Lego profit built up 15% with The Lego Movie

A foray into the movie business helped Lego raise its profit by 15 per cent in 2014 to seven billion kroner ($1.3 billion Cdn), the Danish toy company said Wednesday.

The Lego Movie was so popular it helped raise sales of its multi-coloured toy blocks by 13 per cent to 28.6 billion kroner ($4.3 billion) worldwide.

Lego said demand was particularly strong in its largest market – North America — after the popular movie was released with toys associated with the film a "significant contributor to growth."

Toys such as Metalbeard's Sea Cow, a Jungle Tree Sanctuary and Arctic Base Camp were among the favourites.

Sales also rose by double digits in Britain, France, Russia and China, Lego said.

The privately owned company intends to build on the success of The Lego Movie with a new  4D animated film series based on its popular characters that will be shown at Legoland Parks and Legoland Discovery Centres.

"I am proud that we delivered high quality creative play experiences to millions of children all over the world. This resulted in a highly satisfactory result for us, and it remains our aspiration to be the best at what we do," Lego Group CEO Jorgen Vig Knudstorp said in a news conference.

Although the company is not publicly listed and doesn’t release quarterly figures, it has published earnings results since 1997.