Madame Tussauds owner Merlin core earnings rise 9.5 pct

LONDON, March 1 (Reuters) - Britain's Merlin Entertainments (Frankfurt: A1W713 - news) , operator of tourist attractions such as Madame Tussauds waxworks, met reduced guidance with a 9.5 percent rise in 2017 core earnings and said it was confident about its future prospects.

Merlin, which also runs Legoland, the London Eye, Sea Life and theme parks such as Alton Towers in Britain, had warned on profit in October, saying a series of militant attacks in Britain had hit demand. Its shares have fallen 31 percent over the last year.

The world's second-biggest visitor attractions group behind Walt Disney (Swiss: DIS-USD.SW - news) said on Thursday it made earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of 474 million pounds ($653 million) - in line with company guidance of 470-480 million pounds and ahead of 433 million pounds made in 2016.

Merlin said globally it had a record 66 million visitors in 2017, up 3.5 percent, and was "highly confident" in the long term prospects for the business. ($1 = 0.7263 pounds) (Reporting by James Davey, Editing by Paul Sandle)