The Making of Harry Potter studio tour magics up £100m profit

Profit at Warner Bros’ Harry Potter studio tour near London passed £100m as it created more than 100 jobs to cope with the rising demand for the attraction.

The business behind Warner Bros Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter, achieved a pre-tax profit of £100.8m for 2023, according to newly-filed accounts with Companies House.

The new total comes after Warner Bros Studios Leavesden posted a pre-tax profit of £79.7m for 2022.

The new accounts also show that the firm’s turnover rose from £247.1m to £258.4m over the same period.

To deal with the increased demand for the tour, the business increased its headcount from 622 to 724 in the year.

Warner Bros Studio Tour London – The Making of Harry Potter is a walk-through exhibition in Leavesden, Hertfordshire and is owned by the US film studio’s tours division.

It opened to the public in 2012 and houses a permanent exhibition of authentic costumes, props, and sets utilised in the production of the Harry Potter films, as well as behind-the-scenes production of visual effects.

The company behind the tour also operates merchandise sales and studio facilities as well as equipment rental.

The firm said it ended 2023 “in a strong position” with net current assets of £186.1m, up from £73m.

The business said that the rise was in part due to the sale of inventory to a fellow group undertaking and increases in cash deposits with group firms.

The Harry Potter studio tour company added that its operating profit grew from £126.9m to £173.5m because of a “drive to find cost efficiencies across the business”.

The results come after the theatre group which includes the West End venue that hosts Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, celebrated another year of profit as sales outstrip their pre-pandemic levels.

Turnover across the group increased to almost £33m over the 12 months ending October 1, 2023, up from just under £32m in the year before and 10 per cent higher than the period ending September 29, 2019 – the group’s final results before the pandemic hit.

These strong sales meant the company remained in the black despite pre-tax profit dipping slightly from £8.5m to £7.5m over the course of the year.