A strong performance from its Legoland parks, boosted by the international success of the Lego movie, means Merlin Entertainments (MERL) can start handing cash back to shareholders. The leisure park operator announced plans for a maiden interim dividend, worth 2p a share, after favourable weather in Northern Europe and several new park openings boosted its first-half figures.
Like-for-like sales growth was 8 per cent across the group, which was topped up to 11 per cent by acquisitions. The star performer was Legoland, with like-for-like growth of 19 per cent. Even supposedly weak trading at the core 'midway' attractions - including Madame Tussauds and Sea Life - led to underlying sales growth of 2 per cent. Chief executive Nick Varney reminded shareholders that follows growth of 9 per cent this time last year. Political disruption in Bangkok hurt trading at the Siam Ocean World aquarium and the city’s Madame Tussauds, while severely cold weather in North America dampened visitor numbers across the region.
The impact of the US 'polar vortex' will be felt in the second half of the financial year too, as federal authorities plan to shorten holiday periods to make up for lost school days. Analysts at Citi Group expect pre-tax profits of £227m for the full-year, giving EPS of 16p.
MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS (MERL) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 352p | MARKET VALUE: | £3.6bn | |
| TOUCH: | 349-352p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 392p | LOW: 315p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 0.6% | PE RATIO: | 19 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 94p* | NET DEBT: | 102% | |
| Half-year to 28 June | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 483 | -1 | -0.2 | 0 |
| 2014 | 513 | 40 | 2.8 | 2 |
| % change | +6 | - | - | - |
Ex-div: 27 Aug Payment: 25 Sep Includes intangible assets of £945m, or 93p per share | ||||
