Barbie blues gave Mattel holiday disappointment

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) - Slumping sales of Barbie did little to bring a happy holiday to her maker, Mattel Inc.

Mattel's fourth-quarter earnings release Friday drilled down into the details of a weak performance that led to the resignation of its chairman and CEO.

Barbie sales fell 12 percent, though that wasn't as bad as the third quarter's 21 percent drop. Fisher-Price sales fell 11 percent. While American Girl slipped 4 percent, it was better than the 7 percent decline in the third quarter.

Hot Wheels sales rose 5 percent.

Interim CEO Christopher Sinclair said he will spend the next few months evaluating the company's businesses to "revitalize our brands."

The results for the quarter that ended Dec. 31 are important because they include the holiday season, a make-or-break time of year for toy makers.

Mattel's fourth-quarter performance fell far short of Wall Street's expectations when the toy maker provided preliminary results Monday, the same time it announced the departure of CEO Bryan Stockton.

Stockton became CEO in January 2012 and then was named chairman a year later. A former Kraft Foods executive, he served as a Mattel's chief operating officer before becoming CEO. Sinclair has served as a Mattel Inc. director since 1996.

For the fourth quarter, Mattel posted an adjusted profit of 52 cents per share on revenue of $1.99 billion. That was below the 83 cents per share on revenue of $2.07 billion that analysts polled by FactSet predicted.

Drew Crum of Stifel Nicolaus said in a client note that not all was bad for Mattel in the fourth quarter, as it significantly lowered retail inventory in domestic markets and reported better-than-expected revenue from Mega Brands.

But the analyst kept a "Hold" rating, saying he is waiting for evidence of improvement in its core brands.

Mattel's full-year adjusted profit was $1.48 per share on revenue of $6.02 billion.

The company's stock shed 50 cents to $26.40 in premarket trading.