The family behind Lego may be about to swallow up Merlin Entertainments, but it was the toy bricks empire which weighed on first-half trading, the firm admitted on Thursday.
Merlin, which operates Legoland, said The Lego Movie 2, released in February, had not brought the crowds it had hoped for.
Finance chief Anne-Francoise Nesmes pointed to bad weather in the UK and US hurting after strong Easter and Spring Break trading. It was labelled a “disappointing” Legoland performance by Merlin's chief executive Nick Varney.
Pre-tax profits fell 21% to £34 million in the six months to June 29.
Group revenues rose 6.5% to £763 million, boosted by higher tourist visitors in London, where Merlin has attractions including Madame Tussauds and the London Eye.
Total visitor numbers increased 3% to 30.8 million.
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Shareholders will today be sent documents on the proposed £6 billion takeover by a consortium that includes Lego’s Danish founding family’s vehicle Kirkbi and other private-equity investors.