So there's lots of talk out there currently about how long various airlines can survive with virtually no income stream. Apparently RyanAir could last 3 years, BA has until July but Virgin Atlantic is pretty much out of time.
We all know that Drayton Manor and Pleasure Beach have struggled in recent years, and both have come to rely heavily on hotel revenue. The only saving grace for both parks is that their land is owned outright and thus their biggest cost is staff, which has likely been reduced to 0 with the help of the furlough scheme. It's easy to imagine in both cases they are more useful to the banks alive than dead.
As I understand it, Merlin's parks are all leased (the Tussauds portfolio was sold and leased back almost immediately after it was acquired). How long can those leases be sustained? Is it possible that the leaseholders could foreclose, and if so where does that leave the hardware assets in the various parks?
Merlin declared £110m in cash and equivalents as of December 2018, down from £290m in December 2017. If I'm reading the document correctly their lease payments over that year were £107m. Some of those commitments will reduce in line with the drop in revenue - Blackpool's units in particular are leased on a revenue share basis. Can we expect Kirkbi/Blackstone to protect their investment with a further cash injection? Are both parties able to do such a thing?
We all know that Drayton Manor and Pleasure Beach have struggled in recent years, and both have come to rely heavily on hotel revenue. The only saving grace for both parks is that their land is owned outright and thus their biggest cost is staff, which has likely been reduced to 0 with the help of the furlough scheme. It's easy to imagine in both cases they are more useful to the banks alive than dead.
As I understand it, Merlin's parks are all leased (the Tussauds portfolio was sold and leased back almost immediately after it was acquired). How long can those leases be sustained? Is it possible that the leaseholders could foreclose, and if so where does that leave the hardware assets in the various parks?
Merlin declared £110m in cash and equivalents as of December 2018, down from £290m in December 2017. If I'm reading the document correctly their lease payments over that year were £107m. Some of those commitments will reduce in line with the drop in revenue - Blackpool's units in particular are leased on a revenue share basis. Can we expect Kirkbi/Blackstone to protect their investment with a further cash injection? Are both parties able to do such a thing?