Madame Tussauds owner to post Brexit impact on revenues

Madame Tussauds owner Merlin Entertainments is expected to give an indication next week of whether the collapse in sterling has resulted in an increase of tourists coming to the UK and visiting its attractions.
Merlin Entertainment owns the classic London tourist attractionMerlin Entertainment owns the classic London tourist attraction
Merlin Entertainment owns the classic London tourist attraction

The group - which also operates Alton Towers, Legoland and the London Eye - will issue a trading update on Tuesday.

Graham Spooner, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, said: “The market will be very interested to see if the weak pound since June has led to an increase in tourists coming to the UK, especially to the group’s major attractions such as Madame Tussauds in London.”

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The pound’s fall against the dollar, the euro and all other major currencies since the June 23 vote to quit the European Union has led to an anticipation of a rise in tourist spending.

In September, the firm flagged that it is yet to see a boost from the Brexit-hit pound, and City analysts expect Merlin to have seen little uptick - with official data showing that while visitor numbers have increased, tourist spending has declined.

Jaafar Mestari, analyst at JP Morgan, said: “We will be mostly looking out for qualitative comments on the Halloween trading period.

“UK inbound tourism data from the ONS continues to show no marked improvement overall, with volumes up 1.1% but spend per trip down 6.9% in September.”

Mr Mestari expects the firm to record a 1.3% increase in like-for-like sales in 2016 as it recovers from last year’s Smiler rollercoaster crash.