Hornby has warned investors that it believes it will make no profits and merely break even in the current financial year. The company – which makes Scalextric, Airfix, Corgi as well as model railways – blames poor sales of Olympic merchandise for the drop in profits. It made underlying profits before tax of £4.5 million in the 2011/12 finacial year.

Retailers resorted to deep discounting of London 2012 theme toys and others good before the games even began; repeat orders that were made in advance were also cancelled. For example, the Scalextric Team GB Velodrome set had initally gone on sale for around £69.99, before the games had ended, some have reduced to £19.99.Continue Reading