Smiler crash still hurting Merlin

Merlin Entertainments said trading at its Alton Towers theme park was 'significantly below' last year in the 47-week period to November 21.

It follows the crash on its Smiler rollercoaster ride at the 500-acre Staffordshire park in June that left five people seriously injured.

Merlin said the year-on-year decline had narrowed in recent weeks, reflecting the temporary change in product and customer mix during the Halloween period.

Last week it said the crash was caused by human error as staff misunderstood a shutdown message and wrongly restarted the rollercoaster.

Merlin said like-for-like revenue growth in the Legoland parks operating group remains strong, with the resorts enjoying an excellent Halloween period.

New attractions and accommodation opened across the group this year, and in 2014, have continued to perform well.

Merlin, which also owns Thorpe Park, says it expects to report full year results in line with current expectations, with underlying profit before tax broadly in line with 2014.

It will report its 2015 preliminary results on February 25.