LEGO CEO says "nice growth" in 2009 rev-report

COPENHAGEN Feb 9 (Reuters) - Danish toymaker LEGO Group will report "nice growth" in 2009 revenue, the company's chief executive said in an interview with German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

Jorgen Knudstorp did not elaborate on its results in the interview, published on Tuesday. In 2008, LEGO's sales increased 19 percent to 9.5 billion Danish crowns ($1.74 billion), against the slump seen by many companies in the $50 billion global toy industry, which includes such rivals as Mattel (MAT.O) and Hasbro HAS.N. [nN08183660] [nN29109663]

He said the company intended to remain family-owned as it helped it to maintain a vision loftier than pure profitability.

"It is my goal to make LEGO into a brand, like Apple, which people regard as indispensable," he said. "Here it helps to be family-owned because with them you can uphold a vision instead of existing solely for the purpose of making money," Knudstorp said.

($1=5.450 Danish Crown)

(Editing by Karen Foster)

((Reporting by Peter Starck; peter.starck@thomsonreuters.com; rm://peter.starck.reuters.com@reuters.net; +45 33 96 96 52;)) Keywords: LEGO/

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