Merlin Entertainments Regulatory News (MERL)

Merlin Entertainments plc - Interim Management Statement

Continued execution on strategy

Strong start to the year, benefiting from soft 2013 comparatives

Full year expectations remain unchanged

Merlin Entertainments today reports its trading performance for the 18 weeks to 3rd May 2014.

Key trading highlights

· Like for like1 revenue growth for the first 18 weeks of the year of 12.0%

· Constant currency2, total Group revenue growth of 16.5%

· Reported currency, total Group revenue growth of 10.8%

2014 has started well with strong like for like growth of 12.0%, supported by more favourable weather in Northern Europe and successful promotional activity around the release of 'The LEGO Movie', the latter having a particularly positive impact on the two US LEGOLAND parks and LEGOLAND Discovery Centres.

This period of outperformance should, however, be seen in the context of the suppressed performance in the 2013 comparative period, where results were adversely impacted by an earlier Easter holiday period and extremely cold weather in Northern Europe. As a consequence, underlying trading is consistent with the long term growth trajectory of the business and full-year expectations remain unchanged.

Total revenue growth, at constant currency, of 16.5% reflects the full period impact of the midway attractions opened throughout 2013 and the LEGOLAND California hotel which opened in April 2013. The strengthening of Sterling has reduced total revenue growth, based on actual foreign exchange rates, by 5.7 percentage points.

The financial position of the business remains strong, with net debt increasing marginally reflecting the seasonality of cashflows.

Delivering on the strategy

The Group has made further good progress against its six strategic growth drivers:

· Growing the existing estate through planned investment cycles

· 'Flight of the Demons' winged roller coaster at Heide Park opened on time and has received a positive, early reception.

· 'Legends of Chima' waterpark in LEGOLAND California and 'CBeebies Land' at Alton Towers each set to launch as planned in May.

· A further eight high capex year investments planned across the estate for 2014.

· Exploiting strategic synergies

· Launch of the next-generation ticketing trial at Thorpe Park, and extension of the existing Q-Bot contract, to include smartphone capability, at LEGOLAND Windsor. Potential for further roll out across the estate if the trial is successful.

· UK Merlin Annual Pass successfully relaunched at the start of 2014 and a new Premium pass recently launched in the German market.

· Transforming our theme parks into destination resorts

· The new LEGOLAND California hotel, which opened in April 2013 has continued to trade well, supporting the park and development of the resort.

· A new hotel extension at LEGOLAND Billund and a further Knight's Castle hotel at LEGOLAND Deutschland both opened at the start of the 2014 season and are trading well.

· The development of new accommodation at Chessington World of Adventures (Azteca Hotel) is progressing well, and will further support revenues in the second-half of the year.

· Rolling out new midway attractions

· In February, the Group opened SEA LIFE Charlotte: its 100th attraction.

· The remaining planned five openings for 2014 are: a Madame Tussauds and Dungeon in San Francisco; Madame Tussauds in Beijing and Singapore; and a LEGOLAND Discovery Centre in Boston. These developments are on track and, as previously stated, the openings will be second-half weighted.

· The majority of the 2015 roll out pipeline has been announced, with three openings in Orlando, one in each of Istanbul and Michigan, and Shrek's Far Far Away Adventure pilot in London.

· Developing new LEGOLAND parks

· LEGOLAND Dubai is under development and is expected to open in 2016

· Plans for LEGOLAND Japan are well developed and the Group hopes to make a further announcement in due course.

· Continued development of the park pipeline with potential projects under negotiation in South Korea, and preliminary discussions ongoing in China and the USA.

· Strategic acquisitions

· The Group continues to be actively engaged in searching for new brands and strategic opportunities that fit Merlin's strict investment criteria.

Nick Varney, Merlin Entertainments Chief Executive Officer, said:

"The more favourable weather in Northern Europe together with strong promotional activity around 'The LEGO Movie' launch for our North American LEGOLAND attractions has meant a good start to the year. However the strong summer trading in 2013 will mean that like for like growth will be considerably more challenging over the coming quarters. As such, full year expectations remain unchanged with the Group's underlying trading being consistent with the long term trajectory.

"Overall, we anticipate further strong underlying growth across the Group, as we continue to execute on our six strategic growth drivers."

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1Like for like growth is based on the 2014 and 2013 figures and includes all businesses owned and opened before 2013, on a constant currency basis using 2014 exchange rates.

2Constant currency revenue growth is calculated using 2014 exchange rates.

Appendix

Movement in attraction numbers since December 28th 2013:

LDC = LEGOLAND Discovery Centre

LLP = LEGOLAND Parks Operating Group

RTP = Resort Theme Parks Operating Group

Midway = Midway Attractions Operating Group

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