Lego cashes in on tough times

Lego A/S may have a record gain in US sales this year as cash-strapped parents seek toys that will last, said the head of the company's Americas unit.

Lego's total sales growth will exceed its August projection of 12 percent, Soren Torp Laursen said in a telephone interview. The company has had an "exceptional year" in the US and UK, he said.

"We braced ourselves for fairly tough conditions because the macro-economic picture was not looking very good," Laursen said. "Much to our surprise, our demand actually started to accelerate as the market conditions became powerful."