Merlin’s spell attracts record visitors

NEC Group chief executive Paul Thandi, second left, at the groundbreaking for Legoland Discovery Centre Birmingham

Leisure group Merlin Entertainments has worked its magic to welcome a record number of people to its attractions despite the impact of terrorism in the UK and unseasonal weather across Europe during the crucial summer months.

The Alton Towers and Warwick Castle owner also operates Sea Life, Legoland and Madame Tussauds sites globally and has revealed it had 66m visitors in 2017. This helped to drive revenues up 12%, to £1.59bn, while pre-tax profits were up 5% to £271m.

Merlin Entertainments’ chief executive Nick Varney said: “Merlin continues to evolve and, with attractive market fundamentals and the right strategy in place, we remain highly confident in the long term prospects for the business.”

The West Midlands, and the NEC Group, will see the results of this confidence this year as the £20m Bear Grylls Adventure attraction will open at the NEC and a £7m Legoland Discovery Centre will launch at Arena Birmingham.

Varney added: “A year that started well with positive momentum in almost every part of the group was ultimately defined by the unprecedented spate of terror attacks in the UK and poor to extreme weather throughout the summer season in Europe.

“Despite this, thanks to the efforts of our extraordinary team, we have reported overall growth in revenue, profit and cash flow, welcoming 66 million visitors – our highest on record.”

The group shifted its strategy during the year as it reallocated £100m of future spending on some of its theme parks and moved the money into expanding its accommodation. Merlin had already begun changing its theme parks into “destination resorts”, and the opening of the 76-bedroom CBeebies Land Hotel at Alton Towers was one of four accommodation investments to complete last year.

It has been a testing year for investors and the group dropped out of the FTSE 100 late last year. Merlin’s share price dropped 40% over eight months to a February low of 318p. Its closing price last night of 340p, giving the group a market value of £3.5bn.

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