Merlin Entertainments, Europe's leading and the world's second-largest visitor attraction operator, today reports results for the 26 weeks ended 25 June 2016.
Group revenue grew by 5.3%, reflecting a strong contribution from new accommodation and attractions and a positive translational impact from non-Sterling earnings, partially offset by a slight decline in like for like revenue.
Continued growth in LEGOLAND Parks, with revenue up 11.1%. Revenue at constant currency grew by 5.7%, driven by like for like revenue growth of 3.3%, and a further contribution from new accommodation.
Midway Attractions delivered 7.1% revenue growth. Revenue at constant currency grew by 5.3% despite a like for like revenue decline of 0.2%, reflecting a strong contribution from new attractions. The like for like performance continues to be impacted by a challenging city centre tourist market, with heightened security concerns and the residual effect of stronger Sterling on the London Division.
As expected, the Resort Theme Parks Operating Group (RTP) has continued to experience lower visitation at Alton Towers following the accident in June 2015. RTP revenues in the period declined by 7.0%. Revenue at constant currency was down 9.1%, reflecting a 10.2% decline in like for like revenue offset by a contribution from new accommodation.
Profit before tax increased as a result of growth in EBITDA offset by an increased depreciation charge related to continued investment across the estate.
Good progress towards the 2020 strategic milestones:
- Three new Midway attractions opened in the period
- 210 new 'rooms' opened to date across four of our theme parks
- LEGOLAND Dubai remains on track to open under a management contract in October 2016, followed by LEGOLAND Japan in April 2017 with continued progress towards the opening of LEGOLAND Korea and further parks in North America and China.
Nick Varney, Chief Executive Officer, said, 'Merlin has delivered a resilient performance in the first half that reflects the benefit of our diversified portfolio and strong New Business Development programme.
“As previously reported, many of the trends we experienced last year continued into 2016. Our Midway Attractions Operating Group has continued to see a challenging market in London, and Alton Towers, whilst seeing some recovery in mainstream leisure visitation, continues to experience significantly lower overall volumes. By contrast, and following two years of exceptional growth, our LEGOLAND Parks Operating Group has continued to build on its strong performance.
“However, 2016 has also brought some new challenges. Heightened security concerns, following attacks across Europe, have had an effect on city centre tourism, creating a challenging market and compounding an already difficult market in London. Against this backdrop, the Midway Attractions Operating Group?s performance represents a relatively robust result.
“Despite this difficult current trading environment, we remain confident about the medium and long term prospects for Merlin in both our existing estate and around our 2020 milestones.'
Varney finished, “Within the existing estate, we have a strong product pipeline across each of the three Operating Groups, we expect a continued recovery in Resort Theme Parks, and there is the further potential boost from the three new LEGO movies expected over the next three years. In addition, if the current weakness in Sterling persists over the medium term, it should provide support to the UK tourism market from domestic and international visitors, benefiting our attractions both in London and across the UK.'