Merlin Entertainments plc: Full Year Results 2016 – US Summary

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     (Photo: http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/473996/SEALIFE.jpg )

Nick Varney, Chief Executive Officer, said:  

"We have delivered earnings growth of 9.3% in 2016, reflecting the benefits of our strategy of portfolio diversification.

Despite a number of headwinds in 2016, including a difficult market for visitor attractions in Florida, we are pleased with the progress made in the US, generating revenue of £404m from our North American attractions up from £336 million in 2015. We opened our 100^th Midway attraction, a new LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Michigan, and visitors to Madame Tussauds in New York will have enjoyed seeing their favorite Ghostbusters^® characters and sets from the film up close and personal in a one-of-a-kind experience.

The roll out of new Midway attractions will continue in 2017, as we open Madame Tussauds Nashville - our first-ever attraction centered around music stars, and a LEGOLAND Discovery Center in Philadelphia.  

We also have ambitious plans for our two US LEGOLAND Parks in 2017, as we open the 166 chalet Beach Resort at LEGOLAND Florida, and launch new LEGO Batman and NINJAGO themed products and features to coincide with the two LEGO movies out this year. We continue to explore opportunities for further full-scale LEGOLAND Parks in North America, so watch this space!"

Notes to Editors: 

• There are seven LEGOLAND Parks around the world, including in Carlsbad, California and Winter Haven, Florida;
• Merlin operates over 100 Midway attractions around the world. These are typically smaller, indoor attractions with a one-two hour visitor dwell time with brands including Madame Tussauds, LEGOLAND Discovery Center, SEA LIFE and the London Eye;
• At peak, there are c. 6,500 employees across the US;
• There were c. 14 million visitors to US attractions in 2016;
• Merlin has 26 attractions in the US across 14 states, including eight LEGOLAND Discovery Centers, eight SEA LIFE Centers, six Madame Tussauds, and two LEGOLAND Parks;
• There are 402 bedrooms at US LEGOLAND Park accommodation;
• Merlin has global exclusivity to operate, and open further, LEGOLAND Parks;
• Merlin is 29.9% owned by Kirkbi A/S - a 75% owner of the LEGO toy company;
• Merlin Entertainments is a FTSE100 company, listed on the London Stock Exchange (Ticker: MERL) and also has a sponsored American Depositary Receipt ('ADR') programme (Ticker: MERLY).

The full regulatory results announcement, which should take precedent over this release, as well as further information on the company, is available via Merlin's corporate website:

http://merlinentertainments.biz/investor-relations.

For images:

https://www.legoland.com/florida/about-us/press/information/

https://www.legoland.com/california/about-us/press/image-gallery/

SOURCE Merlin Entertainments