Alton Towers owner Merlin magics up impressive figures
MERLIN Entertainments, which owns and runs visitor attractions including Alton Towers in North Staffordshire and Birmingham’s Sea Life Centre, has experienced growth across the board.
Announcing its preliminary results for the year ended 27 December 2014, Merlin – said to be the world’s second‐largest visitor attraction operator – revealed vistor numbers had increased to 62.8m (2013: 59.8m) while revenue was up by 9.6% to £1.25bn (2013: £1.19bn).
Profit before tax was up by 34.6% to £249m (2013: £186m).
In 2014 the group benefited from further significant investment across the attractions, including major new rides and features in LEGOLAND California and Heide Park in Northern Germany.
The LEGOLAND branded attractions were also supported by the launch of ‘The LEGO Movie’ early in 2014 and the effective promotional activity surrounding the movie.
Merlin has also announced that it has successfully secured a new £1.3bn banking facility, structured as a £1bn unsecured term loan and an increased £300m revolving credit line.
2015 will see the opening of a new ‘Enchanted Village’ at Alton Towers Resort, comprising 120 lodges and 5 premium tree houses.
Nick Varney, Merlin Entertainments chief executive officer, said: “2014 has been another good year for Merlin, wowing over 60m visitors in 23 countries worldwide while growing revenues by 9.6% and underlying EBITDA by 11.0% on a constant currency basis.”
