Specialist
Former Divisional Director at Merlin Entertainments plc
Agenda
- Drivers of challenging Legoland like-for-like growth, and growth opportunities in Midway, US
- US CAPEX requirements, including accommodation growth and site development
- Evolution of Merlin Entertainment's (LON: MERL) US EBITDA profile
Questions
1.
What would you suggest are the drivers for the Legoland Discovery Centres’ [LDCs] top line, where I understand there has been the most significant decline in like-for-like performance?
2.
During your management, did you become more aggressive with your headline price of USD 20-25?
3.
Do you think there is scope to increase prices further within the LDCs but also more broadly in the Midway attractions for the US?
4.
You mentioned that repeat customers were asking about pricing. What was the typical split between repeat custom vs new custom?
5.
What would you say are the key opportunities for expanding the Midway attractions?
6.
Where are the key threats for the Midway attractions part of the business?
7.
How do you view the threat of competition coming from pop-ups vs fixed sites?
8.
Given the consumer shift towards museums and pop-ups, how do you seek to entice those customers back to a Midway attraction site?
9.
There seems to be the most significant decline in like-for-like performance in the Legoland parks division for the US. Could you elaborate on what is driving this like-for-like performance?
10.
Why can Disney parks sustain a relatively high volume in comparison to Merlin Florida, for instance?
11.
Is there scope to grow revenues by increasing headline pricing?
12.
What would you say is the potential for growing the secondary revenue?
13.
Given you can’t improve headline pricing, how do you offset cost price inflation?
14.
Do you think Merlin has learnt its lessons from the Legoland parks, in terms of the upcoming New York launch?
15.
What would you expect for attendance of the New York park in Y1, and how would that differ to Y2 and Y3?
16.
What would be an expected revenue per customer for Legoland in Goshen?
17.
What is the logic behind setting up a site in Goshen, given that you mentioned it is a relatively unknown location?
18.
Is Goshen relatively sheltered competitively?
19.
In terms of sustaining like-for-like, is the New York site limited in its square footage, or is there scope to include a waterpark offering and then a hotel?
20.
What do you think is the expected EBITDA for the New York site? How could that trend from Y1 across to Y3?
21.
What would you expect the targeted return to be for around a USD 400m investment?
22.
What would be the typical CAPEX requirements to set up a new Midway attraction site and the parameters there?
23.
What would be the expected return on investment for those additional attractions in an established site?
24.
How underinvested is the current estate?
25.
I understand around 10% of sales is allocated towards maintenance CAPEX. In the event of a potential downturn or a tougher economic outlook, what could that be flexed down to?
26.
Is there a base level of maintenance CAPEX as a percentage required, particularly around health and safety?
27.
What is your outlook for CAPEX plans beyond 2021, obviously after New York and the Korea Legoland are complete? Do you think it is likely that gross CAPEX will come down, or will the company refocus on the next project?
28.
Do you have a view on which locations or possible sites Merlin could look to acquire?
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