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MERL Merlin Entertainments Plc

454.60
0.00 (0.00%)
28 Mar 2024 - Closed
Delayed by 15 minutes
Share Name Share Symbol Market Type Share ISIN Share Description
Merlin Entertainments Plc LSE:MERL London Ordinary Share GB00BDZT6P94 ORD 1P
  Price Change % Change Share Price Bid Price Offer Price High Price Low Price Open Price Shares Traded Last Trade
  0.00 0.00% 454.60 454.60 454.70 - 0.00 00:00:00
Industry Sector Turnover Profit EPS - Basic PE Ratio Market Cap
0 0 N/A 0

Merlin Entertainments Share Discussion Threads

Showing 526 to 547 of 700 messages
Chat Pages: 28  27  26  25  24  23  22  21  20  19  18  17  Older
DateSubjectAuthorDiscuss
17/10/2017
11:02
trytotakeiteasy

I am just making comment on past experiences and those made here. After all, it is us, we, that choose to go there. Capex covering depreciation tells you nothing about the overall state of the park and customer viewpoints on value. Just accounting BS.

Nobody desperately wants to go to a park year on year where crowds get bigger, queues get bigger, service quality drops for the same rides. These operators don't care because they attract new visitors - like Disney do - but eventually they will have to rely on loyal visitors. Those who have got the money and wherewithal to afford repeat visits. That means keeping all parts of the park tidy and fresh - even if the rides aren't new. It means increasing employees/service and new rides so their per capita don't fall off. This isn't rocket science - just good common sense. When you let the accounts totally drive the business - certainly remuneration vs earnings - you will eventually run into trouble. There are just so many things - intangibles - that drive the success of a business you just can't put or write in a set of accounts.

I make the comment above as a general comment about the industry and obviously it is very much about personal opinions.

minerve
17/10/2017
10:59
Sadly not sure they can help with the weather or terrorism!
ddubzy
17/10/2017
10:36
Well ongoing, ACSO should help MERL with their queuing problems.
ddubzy
17/10/2017
10:24
The visitors he was complaining about probably came from no further away than Slough!

Foreign tourists visiting are the best though - they won't have got in on a 2 for 1 voucher (or for £10 with The Times as we did with Legoland last year) and won't have arrived with sandwiches and drinks.

verulamium
17/10/2017
10:15
Minerve - well in 2016 depreciation as a % of revenue was 9% and in 2015 it was 9.2%. In both years they spent 9.8% of revenue on existing estate capex. In other words they more than covered the depreciation charge.

I understand your argument but I think we have to be careful of impressionistic thinking. In any estate like this there will be attractions and facilities that are new and others coming to the end of their life. The attractions coming to the end of their life will be renewed at some point. We can't really extrapolate and say some rides are old therefore they are scrimping on capex. Some rides will always be odler and coming to the end of their lives.

I am not really sure what you are suggesting? Rather than have a ride with a life of say 20 years (its lifespan) they should only keep it for 4 years instead. That would be bonkers and unprofitable. I went to LEGOLAND Windsor and yes some rides are old but some are new. Some facilities look tired and some look modern. This will always be the case.

In my view, we have seen two years of like-for-like sales decline in Midway attractions due to terrorism and other issues. This will get back on track at some point. This is likely a long-term buying opportunity if you believe the story. Not really sure on the argument from one poster that there are a lot of foreign people at LEGOLAND Windsor and he/she didn't like that. London attracts lots of foreign tourists and I am not sure what is wrong with that?

trytotakeiteasy
17/10/2017
10:05
trytotakeiteasy

I haven't looked at that presentation to be fair but if the parks are looking tired now - as stated by a comment above - it tends to suggest the ongoing capex isn't enough. So referencing previous capex is irrelevant. After all how many millions does a new prime ride cost?

They had £100m earmarked for their parks and now they are shifting it. Was it necessary or not? When a BOD do u-turns like that it frightens me away. It tends to suggest they haven't got a proper handle on their business, their convictions are low and they are desperate/firefighting. The 20% fall says it all whether it is temporary or not IMO.

minerve
17/10/2017
10:01
Free movement of Europeans curtailed should wipe this off the map once we finally leave.
my retirement fund
17/10/2017
09:56
Look at slide 28 in the Introduction to Merlin presentation from March 2017.

www.merlinentertainments.biz/results-and-presentations

Capex of the existing estate as a percentage of revenue was 9.8% in both 2015 and 2016. This compares to 8.5% in 2014, 8% in 2013 and 8.6% in 2012. They hardly seem to be cutting back on capex. They have announced lots of new rides.

In my view, this is likely to be a long-term buying opportunity. We have had two years of terrorism in Europe and while the future cannot be known it is unlikely to be as bad as 2016 and 2017 (the Paris attack in November 2015 hit trading in 2016).

trytotakeiteasy
17/10/2017
09:48
Seriously, if they are going to re-allocate £100m from current estate then the parks will continue to look tired. Like Disney, they will milk it as much as they can by increasing park numbers with the attraction of new accommodation. Disney does this very succesfully through Vacation Club. But speaking through long and recent experience the lack of cap ex going into your main attractions soon catches up with you and charging higher and higher prices for over decade old attractions where you have to fight for old rides still worth queing for soon makes you question your choice of venue.

If you look at how Disney have managed Hollywood Studios (formerly MGM) you will see my point. Long standing visitors have labelled this a 'dead park'. It does have new rides planned but whilst the lull is happening (which can be years) your competitors have opportunity to play catch-up. Disney is large enough to carry MGM and not care too much. 4 cruise ships with another 3 on the way (and they are v.large) tells you how Disney sees its future.

I am not sure Merlin is in this space. I would be really concerned with their lack of like for like growth and their new projects Peppa Pig and Bear Grylls. Really? Seems like a fad that will soon go by. Who remembers Telly Tubbies? I don't believe they have in-built longevity as brands. But I could be wrong I am in my fifties.

Personally I would prefer to see increased attractions at their main parks helping to protect margins and customer confidence in value and not always go for growth for growth's sake. But they will not be the only company doing this, it always come back to director remuneration which is normally connected to the one dimensional track of earnings.

minerve
17/10/2017
09:45
This may run deeper than terror threats alone.
Disposable incomes, costs and price positioning.
Legoland not exactly a cheap day out.

essentialinvestor
17/10/2017
09:40
I hold Merlin. My own feeling about the 'goods on offer' is that they are expensive, not so well run as they were (with big queues for rides, unless you pay extra for fast-track, as an example), and staff not that helpful comparatively these days. Yet we hold annual passes: for this year, and I'm not sure I will be renewing them. Yes, children would rather sit in front of an electronic screen than walk around a theme park, it seems these days; although not the best choice, IMHO.

On balance, I feel that the overseas business will still have pulling power, and even here, the parks always seem busy: so my money is on a recovery. At current prices, I might even buy a few more (if for no other reason than the gap down will be covered in time {and there's a smaller one around 500 to fill too}).

andrewbaker
17/10/2017
09:26
Merlin Entertainments said like-for-like revenue growth slipped to 0.3% in the third quarter after terror attacks and wet weather kept customers away from its theme-park attractions. Total revenue grew 12.4%, boosted by favorable currency movements and the opening of new facilities abroad, such as Legoland Japan. Merlin said trading in recent weeks has remained "mixed". It forecast like-for-like revenue growth for 2017 to be flat on 2016.
mj19
17/10/2017
09:22
Thanks for feedback above - Message I take is that theme parks not as strong an attaction of children as they used to be due to growth of electonic entertainment - if one may call it that - Potential therefore for slowdown of growth in footfall and for those venues that are tired BUT still an attracive day out. Hummmmmmmm Must crunch numbers again.
pugugly
17/10/2017
08:34
Manics

That's really sad what you say but it is true. I have many good memories taking my daughter to Legoland - I will never forget them. What is happening? 😔

minerve
17/10/2017
08:28
We went to Legoland over the summer. Good news for shareholders if that I left with my fiscal sphincter agape; hemorrhaging net worth onto the floor below. I was braced for that however.

The bad news is, even after walking in full knowing it's expensive, I came away with a feeling that value wasn't there. The new ride Ninjago kept breaking down, some of the rides were looking tired, in fact most of them, though especially the river rides, as did some of the grounds. Staff were great.

All that said, my daughter loved it! "Falling out of fashion" well most kids will take a day in front of the iPad or Xbox these days if you give them the choice. It's insane.

manics
17/10/2017
08:28
Opened way below yesterdays close, market makers seen this coming! I would think likely to be a good recovery play and only a week ago people were jumping on the stock on news about possible sea world take over, ofcourse this wasnt the case.So false news about seaworld driving up the price,people having positive speculation about todays news and buying in beforehand and todays open price is way below yesterdays close scaring off people into selling.Would like to think this will recover as merlin is well positioned for its customer base but ofcourse we all know stocks dont always move like they should and today was a good day for the shorters.Keep your eyes on this one!
fitnessman
17/10/2017
08:22
"Merlin Entertainments - Adding a Little Magic to the Markets"

It certainly is! LOL

minerve
17/10/2017
08:19
PUG I bought in today.
MERL hold the cards for Alton Towers and Legoland.
We have been to both and can see why they are hugely popular for families. It ticks the boxes except for the queues.
Still not a patch on Disney!

cantrememberthis2
17/10/2017
08:10
360p area - Down 20% -- Not a major problem and should recover UNLESS business model broken and too many theme parks/entertainment venues (ie.Market over supplied) and venues falling out of fashion. Certainly reading between lines this might be haoppening - In which case a definate SELL.

Anyone with children in the target market areas able to comment on this point ?

pugugly
17/10/2017
08:07
I can only see a possible trade at 330p if it comes tomorrow
sandy12345
17/10/2017
07:53
Yea hold on for the ride down careful you dont loose your legs on the way!
my retirement fund
17/10/2017
07:14
Picked some up at £3.60p... hold on for the ride!!
5chipper
Chat Pages: 28  27  26  25  24  23  22  21  20  19  18  17  Older

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