Mattel apologizes for recall of toys
The plastic playthings involved had excessive amounts of lead paint.
LOS ANGELES - Mattel apologized yesterday to customers affected by a recall of nearly a million toys from its Fisher-Price Inc. division and said the move would cut pretax operating income for the second quarter $30 million.
The plastic preschool toys were made in China with paint found to have excessive amounts of lead.
"We apologize to everyone affected by this recall, especially those who bought the toys in question," Robert A. Eckert, Mattel Inc.'s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
"Our goal is to correct this problem, improve our systems, and maintain the trust of the families that have allowed us to be part of their lives by acting responsibly and quickly to address their concerns," he said.
Mattel shares fell 40 cents, or 1.7 percent, to $23.18 yesterday.
The apology came a day after the El Segundo, Calif., company, the world's largest toy-maker, disclosed the recall of 967,000 toys manufactured by a Chinese vendor and sold in the United States between May and August.
Included in the recall were 83 types of toys based on the popular characters Big Bird, Elmo and Dora, among others.
Mattel will adjust its already reported 2007 second-quarter results to reflect the recall, the company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
"We require our manufacturing partners to use paint from approved and certified suppliers and have procedures in place to test and verify, but in this particular case our procedures were not followed," Jim Walter, Mattel's senior vice president of worldwide quality assurance, said in a statement. "We are investigating the cause to ensure such events do not reoccur."
The company said it was reviewing the procedures of all of its manufacturing partners in China.
Last month, Mattel reported a 15 percent increase in its second-quarter profit on strong sales of toy cars.