Merlin Entertainments says outlook is positive following profit rise
Alton Towers’ owner Merlin Entertainments says its outlook for this year is ‘positive’ after seeing a 6.2% rise in 2018 earnings.
The world’s second largest visitor attractions operator, which also runs Legoland, Sea Life, Madame Tussauds, the London Eye and the London Dungeons, made underlying pre-tax earnings of £494 million in 2018, up from £474 million a year earlier.
Visitor numbers were up 1.4% to 67 million while revenue increased almost 6% to £1.7 billion.
Merlin said trading in 2019 had been in line with expectations. "Our 2019 outlook is positive and unchanged," it said.
The group plans to open a new Legoland in New York in 2020 and has an agreement to open one in Korea by 2022.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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