Investment makes Merlin flotation a success
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Merlin Entertainments hailed 2013 as a ‘landmark’ year after posting positive figures leading to a successful flotation on the London Stock Exchange.
A 10% increase in visitors to its attractions, which include the UK’s top theme parks, London Eye, LEGOLAND and SEA LIFE, saw numbers rise to 59.8 million, with its operating profit up 12.3% to GBP290m compared to the previous year.
Revenues were up 10.9% to GBP1.19bn, while EBITDA came up 12.8% higher than 2012 at GBP390m.
The group has spent more than GBP95m adding new rides and themed areas to its parks as well as adding accommodation and relaunching its UK Merlin Annual Pass.
New attractions have also opened in Asia, North America and Europe with LEGOLAND Malaysia seeing its first successful full year of operation. Earlier this week the group announced a tie-up with DreamWorks to launch a new Shrek attraction.
“Merlin Entertainments made further substantial progress in 2013. We delivered our fourteenth year of strong growth, with continued delivery from our existing estate, underpinned by the ongoing roll out of our unique portfolio of leisure brands internationally. With seven new attractions in 2013 we are making good progress towards our stated long term aim of a geographically diversified business generating revenues equally across Europe, the Americas and Asia Pacific,” said Nick Varney, CEO of Merlin.
“At the same time, we delivered on our long- standing objective of becoming a publicly quoted company. The flotation of Merlin has given us the platform for the next stage of our development and we are now better placed than ever before to continue to build this robust, diversified business, based on our iconic attractions and our determination to deliver memorable days out for our many millions of visitors in 22 countries, across four continents,” he added.
Further attractions and developments are taking place in the UK, Dubai, Asia and North America in the next few years, with the group confident of “continued progress” in 2014.
“Looking forwards, we are confident that our portfolio of attractions is well placed to take advantage of the world of opportunity ahead of us, with our pipeline of new business developments remaining as full as ever. We have multiple levers to drive growth and the right team in place to ensure continued delivery,” Varney added.
Timeline of Merlin’s expansion plans
- 2014 in Europe: CBeebies Land at Alton Towers; ‘Chima’-themed waterpark at LEGOLAND California; Penguin Ice Adventure at SEA LIFE Birmingham; new accommodation at Chessington World of Adventures, LEGOLAND Billund and LEGOLAND Deutschland
- 2014 Worldwide: SEA LIFE in Charlotte; San Francisco cluster including Madame Tussauds and Dungeons; Madame Tussauds in Beijing and Singapore and a LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Boston
- 2015: First of new Shrek attractions will open in London, while the acquired Turkuazoo aquarium in Istanbul will reopen
- 2016: LEGOLAND Dubai due to open
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