Merlin Reports HUGE £492m loss for 2024!

Following on from Merlin’s £214m loss in 2023 the company who operates lots of attractions across the UK (and the world) reported a £492m loss for 2024.

As part of the report Motion JVco who are Merlin’s parent company said reducing costs was a key part of their future which follows big cuts across Merlin already with the loss of Merlin Magic Making and big entertainment and event cuts across the parks for this year.

We already knew Merlin has been trying to sell or franchise SeaLife centres and recently they passed the running of their Blackpool Attractions to the council.

Whilst Merlin didn’t indicate much around the causes they hinted that visitor numbers rose 1% but revenue fell, likely due to lower spend budgets although I can’t help but speculate this is in part down to the poorer quality of food offered in parks such as Alton Towers.

Many of their other attractions including Madame Tussauds and Legoland Parks in New York and South Korea also lost value.

What does this mean for UK Theme Parks?

This is likely to mean lower investments and continued postponement of the Alton Towers indoor coaster. I personally expect with Universal Studios Great Britain that we’ll see Merlin focus their investments on Thorpe Park and Chessington and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them hand Alton Towers onto someone else…which would probably be a good thing for the park!

It’s obviously a concerning issue for UK parks but probably equally reflective of the way Merlin have been running their parks recently.