Lego to cut 1,400 staff as sales boom comes to an end

Lego said it would lay off around 8% of its staff — some 1,400 — and revamp its business after reporting its first fall in sales in more than a decade.

The Danish toymaker announced a 5% decline in mid-year revenue a month after abruptly removing its chief executive, suggesting it is facing its biggest test since flirting with bankruptcy in the early 2000s.

Lego said it could not promise a return to growth in the next two years, a jolting acknowledgement for a group widely admired for embracing the digital era and tying up lucrative franchises from ‘Harry Potter’ to ‘Minecraft’.