Exceeded forecasts

Trangbaek said the company would be able to deliver the orders it had already received but may have trouble filling new orders later this year.

"It is really extraordinary and it has exceeded both ours and our customers' forecasts," Trangbaek said when asked why the company had not foreseen the surge in demand.

The Danish company's sales grew by 18 per cent in the first half of this year to 14 billion Danish crowns ($US2.1 billion), putting it ahead of Mattel and Monopoly-board maker Hasbro, whose revenues came in at $US1.9 billion and $US1.5 billion respectively.

The Lego City, Technic and Star Wars lines were among the most popular in the period, while new launches such as Jurassic World and the girl-focused Lego Elves "were received very positively," the company said.

"We are running our factories at maximum capacity and will do everything we can to meet demand," Trangbaek said.

New factory in China

The unlisted company, owned by the family of founder Ole Kirk Kristiansen, invested more than 3 billion crowns in plants and equipment last year to make more toys.


Before Christmas last year, there were shortages in some countries including Denmark and Canada.

"If it were any other company, I would be quick to dismiss this as a marketing gimmick," Sean McGowan, an analyst at US investment bank Oppenheimer, told AFP.

The company is building a factory in Jiaxing in China, 100 kilometres from Shanghai, which is expected to be up and running in 2017 and should produce most of the Lego toys for Asia in the future.

Lego already has factories in Denmark, Hungary, Czech Republic and Mexico.

The Telegraph London