Aug. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Lego A/S, Europe’s biggest toymaker, said first-half profit jumped 60 percent as it sold more building block products based on the “Star Wars” movies and classic “Lego City” series.

Net income increased to 684 million kroner ($130 million) from 427 million kroner in the same period a year earlier, the Billund, Denmark-based company said in a statement on its Web site today. Sales rose 23 percent to 4.37 billion kroner.

Lego, which estimates that children spend 5 billion hours a year playing with its multicolored bricks, has bought licenses from movie makers including Lucasfilm Ltd. to fend off competition from electronic toys and computer games. The closely held company said today it has expanded capacity with new block- molding machines in Denmark, Hungary and Mexico because of “sustained” growth expectations.

“It’s particularly pleasing to note the continued strong growth in our classic product lines,” Chief Executive Officer Joergen Vig Knudstorp said in the statement. There’s still “considerable uncertainty” surrounding the annual results as most of toy sales occur in the last months of the year, he said. “Based on the fine results achieved in the first half of the year, we’re optimistic.”

Lego said it won market share as the global toy market declined “somewhat” in the six-month period. The Danish company’s sales rose in “almost all markets” with North America and East and Central Europe leading growth.

Mattel Inc., the world’s biggest toymaker whose products include the Barbie dolls, reported a 19 percent drop in second- quarter revenue last month.

Lego was founded in 1932 and sells its products in more than 130 markets. The company is owned by Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen, a grandson of its founder. He is the world’s 318th-richest man, worth about $2.1 billion, according to Forbes.com.

To contact the reporter on this story: Christian Wienberg in Copenhagen at cwienberg@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: August 17, 2009 05:59 EDT