Merlin Entertainments said today the performance of its Legoland business over the summer had failed to meet its expectations and also highlighted costs pressures, sending its shares sharply lower.
Shares in the group, which operates tourist attractions including the Madame Tussauds waxworks and the London Eye, as well as theme parks such as Alton Towers in Britain, were down almost 8%.
Merlin forecast overall 2018 results in line with market expectations.
However its trading update for the 40 weeks to October 6 showed contrasting fortunes in the group's various divisions, with Legoland disappointing with a 0.3% fall in like-for-like sales.
That contrasted with like-for-like growth of 8.3% in Merlin's theme parks division.
Merlin also said the cost environment "remains challenging", with tighter labour markets in many parts of the world adding to the pressures resulting from legislative changes such as the National Living Wage in Britain.
It said the impact of terror attacks which adversely affected performance from early 2017 had started to abate with early signs of recovery in the London tourism market over the summer.
About 70% of Merlin's core annual earnings are typically generated in its second half.
Before today's update, analysts were on average forecasting 2018 earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £486m, up from £474m made in 2017.
