Merlin Entertainments still keen on float

Merlin Entertainments was forced to pull a flotation last year, but insisted today its appetite for becoming a public company is not diminished.

Chief executive Nick Varney tells the Standard: "We still think that Merlin is a company that should be on the stockmarket, that is our goal. We wanted to do the float, but the stock market was volatile."

Varney reckons that if the business behind Madame Tussauds, Alton Towers and the London Eye had floated, "it would now be getting quite a lot of accolades for growth, we are stepping on the gas," he said. He will try again "when the time is right", which won't be in the next 12 months.

He was talking as the company unveiled a 2.5 million rise in visitors to 41 million. Revenue is up 4% to £800 million.

"Daycationers" are keeping Merlin busy.

"Our business is pretty recession resilient," he says. "In good times or bad, people like to have days out with frinds and family, they want an escape from the gloom. Our part of that bargain is to keep investing in new things for them to come and see."

Merlin has attractions in 17 countries - a hedge against a slump in any one particular location, says Varney.

The company made a profit before tax of £26 million, compared to a loss of £13.7 million last year.