A drop in TCG sales was responsible for the U.S. once again being the only market where asmodee sales declined in its fiscal Q1 (April-June), continuing a trend that ran through the last fiscal year, when the U.S. was the only market where asmodee sales declined (see “U.S. the Only Market Where Sales Declined“).
Overall, asmodee sales were up 20.9% from $401.4 million a year ago to $485.4 million in the same quarter this year (all sales converted from Euros at today’s exchange rate), while U.S. sales declined 9.4%, from $47.8 million a year ago to $43.4 million in the quarter this year. The problem wasn’t board games, which saw sales rising 16.0% to $118.2 million from $101.9 million worldwide for the quarter last year, “with every continent contributing to the growth,” according to asmodee CEO Thomas Koegler in his comment in the quarterly report.
Koegler called out the U.S. board game growth, explaining that it was, “…driven by the continued normalization of retailer inventory levels, alongside resilient consumer demand for tabletop games and positive impact of our commercial and marketing initiatives.”
Board and card game brands that did well for asmodee worldwide included evergreen titles CATAN, behind CATAN On the Road, and Dobble/Spot-It!, behind the new Bluey version; recent releases, including dnup, The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship and Cozy Stickerville; expansions for Harmonies and HEAT.
In its Lifestyle games, Arkham Horror: The Card Game, Star Wars: Legion, and Gamegenic accessories for Magic: The Gathering did well, according to Koegler.
The U.S. decline was from TCGs, which saw around $11.5 million in sales moved out of the April-June quarter to the July-September quarter by a change in set scheduling for Star Wars: Unlimited, Koegler said in the conference call. That means that absent that move, U.S. sales would have turned upward after a year in decline, a trend we will now likely see in asmodee’s fiscal Q2 (July-September).
That’s in contrast to worldwide sales for Asmodee, which distributes key TCG brands in other markets, particularly Europe. TCG sales were up 23.1% worldwide, from $266.0 million to $327.5 million for the quarter.
The sales increase and cost controls helped the company show a $19.6 million profit for the quarter, a big improvement from the $1.8 million loss in the same quarter a year ago. The beginning of tariff refunds helped, accounting for about $1.15 million, with more expected in the current quarter.
Source: ICV2
