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(Reuters) - Mattel Inc (O:MAT), the world's largest toymaker, reported its third straight fall in quarterly sales as the decline in demand for Barbie dolls and Fisher Price preschool toys accelerated.
The company said sales in North America, which accounts for half of its total revenue, fell 8 percent in the second quarter.
Barbie doll worldwide sales fell 15 percent in the quarter ended June 30, the third straight double-digit fall.
Sales of the iconic doll have fallen in eight of the past 10 quarters.
Fisher-Price sales declined 17 percent in the second quarter.
Excluding Barbie, worldwide sales of girls dolls fell 11 percent, mainly due to Monster High dolls, which are based on the children of monsters such as Dracula.
Mattel, which also makes Hot Wheels toy cars, has looked at newer products to boost sales as children increasingly opt for electronic games and other gaming activities over traditional toys.
The company acquired Canada's Mega Brands Inc in April for $460 million (268.8 million pound) to enter the high-growth building blocks toy market that is dominated by Denmark's Lego.
Mattel's net income more than halved to $28.3 million, or 8 cents per share, in the quarter from $73.3 million, or 21 cents per share, a year earlier.
The earnings included a 11 cent per share tax benefit and the negative impact of 6 cents per share from costs related to the acquisition of Mega Brands.
Excluding these items, Mattel earned 3 cents per share.
Worldwide net sales fell 9 percent to $1.06 billion.
Analysts on average had expected a profit of 18 cents per share on revenue of $1.19 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Mattel's shares were little changed in premarket trading. The stock closed at $39.03 on the Nasdaq on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Shailaja Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Kirti Pandey)