Hasbro reported increased sales and profits for the second quarter of 2003 with sales up 7% to 581.5 million and net earnings of $11.4 million versus a loss of $25.9 million during the same period in 2002.  The domestic toy segment was up 4% in spite of the natural lull in sales of Star Wars toys due to no film release in 2003.  Hasbro cited sales from Transformers, Beyblade, and Furreal Friends as the key elements in overcoming the decline in Star Wars sales.  Game sales decreased slightly from $152 million to $148.6 million, although the Games segment reported an improved operating profit of $25.4 million versus $22.4 million a year ago.  Board game sales, led by Trivial Pursuit Twentieth Anniversary Edition remained strong, but licensed trading card games including Pokemon were down.  Non-licensed trading card games (read Magic: The Gathering) were up, helping to make up for lower sales for licensed games.

International revenues were up 17% to $203.8 million for the quarter, part of which is due to the positive impact of foreign exchange (International segment net revenues were up only 3% when measured in local currency).  The Beyblade, Magic: The Gathering, Transformers, and Playskool product lines all helped fuel the increase in International sales.

Over-all comparisons moderated vs. Q1 (see 'Hasbro Q1 Profitable'), when games were up 21%, international up 29%, and toys down 24%.

The strong performances of Transformers, Magic: The Gathering, and Beyblade are good news for pop culture retailers since these lines are important to many retailers.