Excluding Toys R Us, net sales increased in the fourth quarter and for the whole of fiscal year 2018.

Jakks Pacific has announced financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year ended 31st December 2018.

Net sales for the fourth quarter were $132.3m, compared to $136.6m in the prior year. Excluding net sales to Toys R Us of $1.3m in 2018 and $19.6m in 2017, net sales increased by 12% on a year-on-year basis. Net loss for the fourth quarter was $3.2m compared to a net loss of $30.4m the previous year.

For the whole of fiscal year 2018, net sales were $567.8m compared to $613.1m in the prior year period. Excluding net sales to Toys R Us of $16.6m in 2018 and $69.4m in 2017, net sales increased in 2018 by 1% on a year-on-year basis. Net loss was almost halved, from $83.1m in 2017 to $42.4m in 2018.

CEO Stephen Berman commented: “We are pleased that despite the considerable industry-wide disruption caused by the liquidation of Toys R Us, we were able to deliver positive adjusted EBITDA for the full year. New licensed properties such as Incredibles 2, Harry Potter and Fancy Nancy, as well as our own IP such as Morf Board, Perfectly Cute and TP Blaster, performed very well during the fourth quarter. We made good progress on our goals of expanding international sales and increasing the portion of our sales generated through online retailers, and we believe that we are better positioned entering 2019.”

Jakks also revealed that it is in the final stages of negotiations with Hong Kong Meisheng Cultural Company Limited over a $50m equity infusion, which would result in Meisheng owning 51% of the Company’s outstanding shares.