Legoland Dubai manager Merlin builds healthy rise in earnings

The UK visitor attractions company that is second only to Walt Disney has posted an increase in 2016 profit and is confident in its outlook for the coming year.

The Dubai skyline at Miniland in Legoland Dubai. The park features the world's tallest Lego building, the 17 metre Burj Khalifa model. Pawan Singh / The National

Britain’s Merlin Entertainments, the company behind tourist attractions such as Madame Tussauds waxworks and Legoland, which opened the Legoland Dubai in October – the first in the Middle East, on Tuesday reported a 3.4 per cent rise in 2016 pre-tax profit.

The world’s second-biggest visitor attractions group behind Walt Disney said it made a pretax profit of £277 million (Dh1.24 billion), compared with analysts’ average forecast of £273m and £250m made in 2015.

“As we move into 2017, with ongoing volatility in a number of our markets and continued cost pressures, we will increase our focus on cost efficiency and productivity,” said the chief executive Nick Varney.

“We continue to be excited about the long-term growth opportunities for Merlin. Whilst we are planning prudently, we remain confident of a good performance in the year ahead.”

Merlin Entertainments, which manages Legoland Dubai under a contract with DXB Entertainments, the parent company of the operator Dubai Parks and Resorts, in October confirmed Dubai Madame Tussauds will open in the autumn this year.

* Reuters

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