Projo Biz Blog

Sales of Transformer action figures and purchases by consumers in foreign countries helped boost Hasbro's fourth quarter profits by 24 percent.

Net income rose to $133.7 million, or 84 cents a share, from $108.3 million, or 62 cents a share, in the year earlier period.

Sales increased 16 percent to $1.3 billion, the Pawtucket-based toymaker said. International sales climbed 29 percent to $489.2 million in the quarter. North American revenue rose 7.6 percent to $766.8 million.

Hasbro's profits and sales exceeded forecasts by Wall Street analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News. The surveys estimated Hasbro would post average profit of 81 cents a share and average sales of $1.22 billion.

Shares of Hasbro (HAS:NYSE) closed Friday at $25.87 and are up 1.1 percent in 2008.

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