Toy manufacturer geobra Brandstätter Stiftung (Zirndorf / Germany; www.playmobil.de) posted sales of EUR 611m for its core "Playmobil" brand in the last financial year, representing an increase of 10% compared with 2015. Total sales, including the plastics garden furniture and flower pot brand "Lechuza", amounted to EUR 671m. Some 70% of sales came from abroad, above all from France, Spain and Italy.

This is the first time the toy manufacturer's range has included licensed products from blockbuster films. This is a subject that previously caused a great deal of conflict within the company. The traditional Playmobil range has now been extended with figures from international productions such as the adventure film "How to train your dragon" and the latest in the classic "Ghostbusters" series. It seems that the new head of sales and marketing, Silke Heinrich (see Plasteurope.com of 14.03.2016), has managed to assert herself here because, according to figures from Zirndorf, the market share of licensed products is rising constantly. Geobra is looking to gain its slice of this profitable cake.

At the beginning of December 2016, Steffen Höpfner took over the position of CEO and brought to an end the ongoing management crisis in the company following the death of its owner, Horst Brandstätter (see Plasteurope.com of 07.12.2016).