POOLE-based leisure giant Merlin Entertainments has reported a rise in revenues despite the effect of last year’s rollercoaster crash on visitor numbers at Alton Towers.

The company’s trading update comes in the same week it was fined £5million for health and safety breaches over the accident on the Smiler ride.

New attractions boosted growth, while the value of its overseas revenues was inflated when converted to the weakened pound.

But while overall revenue grew 10.6 per cent in the first 38 weeks of the year, like-for-like growth was only 1.3 per cent, hit by “difficult trading conditions in several key markets”.

Announcing the results, Merlin revealed a new attraction, Little Big City, the first of which will open in Berlin next year.

CEO Nick Varney said Merlin had seen growth despite “challenging trading conditions in certain key markets”.

He added: “Our Resort Theme Parks operating group is now showing year on year revenue growth, reflecting the ongoing recovery in trading at Alton Towers.

“In Midway Attractions, London in particular continues to suppress overall trading performance as we are yet to see any significant benefit from the depreciation of sterling, while the growth in Legoland Parks reflects a tough comparative period in 2015 and a more challenging market in Florida.”

Of the Alton Towers prosecution, he said: “We have learned every lesson from what happened last year and made a number of technical and procedural improvements to make sure that an accident like this cannot happen again. Both the judge and the Health and Safety Executive acknowledge we have a good overall track record in safety and we remain committed to achieving the highest standards in this area.”

Merlin’s Midway Attractions division saw like-for-like revenue fall 0.4 per cent, although total revenue grew at 9.2 per cent. Legoland Parks revenue was up by 13 per cent (2.2 per cent like-for-like) and resort theme parks 10.2 per cent (three per cent like-for-like).

Visitor numbers at Alton Towers were recovering but not at 2014 levels.

He said the new Little Big City brand was a “recasting of the miniature world attraction format”.

“Launching first in Berlin in 2017, Little Big City will be the new and interactive way to experience a city’s history, culture and individuality, using a combination of traditional and modern special effects, storytelling and model cityscapes. The successful launch of this new brand will create further optionality within the Midway rollout programme to support the delivery four 2020 strategic milestone of opening an additional 40 Midway attractions,” he said.

The company said its Eye-Popping Days Out marketing campaign helped arrest the decline in London business.

Merlin said the tourist market in Florida had been affected by issues including terrorism and the Zika virus. Its Madame Tussauds Shanghai had faced “challenging” trading, with the new Shanghai Disney Resort drawing away visitors, but Merlin plans Ocean World and Legoland Discovery Centre attractions in Shanghai and hopes the impact on Tussauds there “will be relatively short-lived”.