Merlin Entertainments' (MERL) overseas attractions and Midway division, which includes its Sea Life centres, provided some ballast against the headwinds faced by its UK theme parks. A trading update ahead of these half-year results warned of the "significant impact" the recent Alton Towers accident had on visitor numbers - and thus profits - and this is expected to continue for the rest of the year.
But a strong performance in China and new attractions including Sea Life Michigan meant underlying pre-tax profits rose by nearly a quarter to £49m. The decline in reported profit given in our table reflects £14m in one-off refinancing costs.
Besides the impact of The Smiler rollercoaster incident, visitor numbers fell in the UK due to the weakness of the euro against sterling, which makes trips to cities such as London less appealing for Continental holidaymakers. Management says this trend has had a similar impact on the group's peers. Meanwhile, travel restrictions in Hong Kong have depressed visitor numbers there.
Merlin continued to expand its global footprint and transform its theme parks into destination resorts with on-site accommodation. It opened a new, 152-room hotel at Legoland Florida and new attractions such as Shrek's Adventure on London's Southbank.
Analysts at JPMorgan Cazenove expect pre-tax profits of £439m for the 2015 financial year, leading to EPS of 19.3p (from £411m and 17.7p in FY2014).
| MERLIN ENTERTAINMENTS (MERL) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 416.3p | MARKET VALUE: | £4.2bn | |
| TOUCH: | 416.2-416.4p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 473p | LOW: 328p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | 1.5% | PE RATIO: | 26 | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 100p* | NET DEBT: | 97% | |
| Half-year to 27 Jun | Turnover (£m) | Pre-tax profit (£m) | Earnings per share (p) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | 513 | 40 | 2.8 | 2.0 |
| 2015 | 544 | 36 | 2.5 | 2.1 |
| % change | +6 | -10 | -11 | +5 |
Ex-div: 13 Aug Payment: 24 Sep *Includes intangible assets of £906m, or 89p a share | ||||
