The main surprise in Merlin Entertainments’ full-year figures was the disclosure that the company was raising capital spending in the current year from an expected £270 million to £280 million to between £360 million and £390 million, and for all the best reasons. Merlin plans a dramatic investment in rooms at its various attractions.
These add to the profitability of the attractions by allowing short-stay holidays and increasing the catchment area of each. They have also shown a return on invested capital in excess of Merlin’s own target of 20 per cent plus for any new project.
Other than that, the figures were as expected a touch disappointing, and the shares lost 15¼p to 482p. Growth at two of the three divisions was constrained, for