Funko to lay off 12% to 13% of its staff

Funko Inc. (FNKO) on Friday said that it planned to cut between roughly 180 to 200 employees, or around 12% to 13% of its staff, the latest effort to scale back as the toy maker deals with weaker industry-wide toy demand and tries to manage its costs. Funko -- known for its Funko Pop dolls modeled after popular movie and comic-book characters -- said in a filing that the decision took hold on Thursday. The company said the move was an effort to rebalance expenses into areas likelier to bring longer-term gains. That filing said the company expected to book charges of around $2.4 million to $2.8 million as a result of the decision, with most of that amount incurred in the third quarter. The company said the layoffs would likely result in "approximately $20 million to $22 million of annualized run rate cash savings, excluding potential hiring of new employees or other additions to the company's costs and expenses." Funko laid off some employees earlier in the year. The company said this month that Chief Executive Brian Mariotti would take a leave of absence to "recharge." Toy sales have suffered after a pandemic-era buying binge, and after retailers grew more cautious about stocking up with more of them. Shares fell 0.7% after hours.

-Bill Peters

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07-28-23 1718ET

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