Mattel 2007 Annual Report Download - page 4

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Considering the challenges we faced in 2007 your company
performed well. As promised, in 2008 the company will
continue to make progress addressing the issues we faced
as an industry last year, and as such, I believe Mattel is
in a strong position to achieve sustainable, improved
performance. YOU HAVE OUR COMMITMENT TO CONTINUE
TO ADVANCE AND IMPROVE OUR BUSINESS, AS WELL AS
THE OVERALL TOY INDUSTRY, both in terms of what we
achieve, fi nancially, and how we achieve it, responsibly.
Much has been written about last year’s toy recalls.
In fact, some analysts and media pundits dubbed 2007
as the “Year of the Recall.” Although the recalls only
impacted a very small fraction of our products, we do
take full responsibility for having every one of our
products not only be safe, but also meet all required
standards around the globe.
As I said last year, I hope we are remembered not for the
issues that we faced, but instead for how we responded
to the challenge. In a public relations crisis like the one we
faced in 2007 an organization’s deep-seated, true core
values are revealed. I saw a genuine commitment, collectively
from the 30,000-person-strong Mattel organization, to do
the right thing, every time. PUT SIMPLY, I COULDN’T BE MORE
PROUD TO BE PART OF MATTEL AND TO WORK ALONGSIDE
THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO MAKE UP THIS GREAT COMPANY.
Globally, Mattel delivered a 6 percent increase in net
revenues in 2007 While the U.S. business was down slightly,
in international markets we experienced double-digit growth
across almost all major regions. As in any year, some
properties increased while others declined, but we did see
strong performance across many areas of our portfolio,
including core Fisher-Price® and toys based on the
Disney/Pixar CARS entertainment property. Despite the costs
associated with the product recalls, we were also able to
achieve improvements in gross margin and overall profi tability.
Your Board of Directors thoughtfully and aggressively
deployed capital last year. We acquired the Polly Pocket®
brand – a property we had licensed for years – and several
board games, including the popular Apples to Apples®
The dividend was increased by 15 percent to $0.75 per
share, and we repurchased 35.9 million shares of our stock,
representing 9 percent of shares outstanding.
TO OUR SHAREHOLDERS ,
.
,
.