Merlin struggling as crowds stay away from Alton Towers

VISITORS are still staying away from Alton Towers after the accident in June which seriously injured five people.

The theme park’s owner Merlin Entertainments yesterday said trading remained ‘significantly below the prior year’.

Even special events around Halloween failed to improve things, said the group.

However, Merlin, which also runs attractions including Legoland and Madame Tussauds, said year-on-year declines in visitor numbers to the park narrowed in recent weeks.

Last month Merlin, which runs 110 attractions in more than 20 countries, said the crash of its Smiler roller coaster ( pictured) was caused by human error.

Two people lost limbs in the accident, and the Staffordshire theme park was closed for four days. The FTSE 100 group said its trading at its attractions in the 47 weeks to November 21 in the UK had also been hit by the strong pound against the weak euro. Like-for-like revenue growth remained at ‘lower levels’ due to the ‘continuation of challenging markets in London’, the firm said

Despite its issues, Merlin expects to match last year’s earnings of between £40m and £45m, and the performance across its Legoland parks – including one in Windsor – was better, and the group described it as ‘strong’.

Analysts at Barclays said: ‘Resort theme parks performance has remained tough, as expected, but, importantly, year-on-year declines have narrowed.’

Barclays analysts expect pretax profit of £248m compared to £249m last year, they said.

Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: ‘Given the success of rival Disney, Merlin remains firmly on the radar for investors.

‘Growth prospects in China have recently been boosted via a joint venture to develop a Legoland Park in the Shanghai area, while the group’s strategy of turning parks into resorts with the opening of new hotels remains ongoing.’

Merlin Entertainments shares rose 5.8p to 415p yesterday.