Battle · 4 companies
Theatres
Full houses, or empty seats?
Royal Opera House leads on 2 of the five measures that matter most: turnover, pre-tax profit, profit margin, growth and net assets. Royal Opera House is the biggest by turnover at £182m, against £180m at LW Theatres. Delfont Mackintosh Theatres keeps the most of every £100 it takes, £25.09 as pre-tax profit.
The year ends are close enough to compare like for like. Royal Opera House and National Theatre file group accounts that include subsidiaries; LW Theatres and Delfont Mackintosh Theatres file for a single company, which flatters the groups on size.
Accounts compared: LW Theatres to Jun 2025 · Delfont Mackintosh Theatres to Mar 2025 · Royal Opera House to Aug 2025 · National Theatre to Mar 2025
The Numbers
| # | Company | Turnover | Change | Pre-tax profit | Margin | Employees | Pay per head | Turnover per head | Net assets | Bank and cash | Accounts to | Basis |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Royal Opera HouseRoyal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation | £182m | +0.1% | £7m | 4.1% | 1,162 | £64,000 | £157,000 | £304m | £91m | Aug 2025 | Group |
| 2 | LW TheatresLW Theatres Group Limited | £180m | +89.3% | £20m | 11.2% | 629 | £44,000 | £286,000 | £126m | £7m | Jun 2025 | Single company |
| 3 | National TheatreThe Royal National Theatre | £129m | +6.0% | -£3m | -1.9% | 931 | £54,000 | £138,000 | £89m | £37m | Mar 2025 | Group |
| 4 | Delfont Mackintosh TheatresDelfont Mackintosh Theatres Limited | £77m | +8.0% | £19m | 25.1% | 682 | £39,000 | £113,000 | £166m | £51m | Mar 2025 | Single company |
Ranked by turnover. Click any column to sort. The leader on each measure is highlighted. Movements are against each company's own prior year. Pre-tax profit is filed except where marked (est.).
Category winners
Biggest by turnover
Royal Opera House
£182m
Most pre-tax profit
LW Theatres
£20m
Highest profit margin
Delfont Mackintosh Theatres
25.1%
Fastest-growing turnover
LW Theatres
+89.3%
Biggest employer
Royal Opera House
1,162 staff
Highest pay per head
Royal Opera House
£64,000
Most turnover per head
LW Theatres
£286,000
Largest net assets
Royal Opera House
£304m
Most cash
Royal Opera House
£91m
The Takeaway
- Delfont Mackintosh Theatres converts the most of its turnover. Of every £100, £25.09 reaches pre-tax profit, against a loss of £1.94 at National Theatre.
- Royal Opera House is the largest on the top line, £182m of turnover, 1.0x LW Theatres's £180m.
- LW Theatres is growing fastest, turnover +89.3% on its own prior year.
- Royal Opera House is the biggest employer with 1,162 people; Royal Opera House pays the most per head, an average staff cost of about £64,000.
- Royal Opera House has the largest balance sheet, net assets of £304m.
Who keeps the most of every £100 of sales?
Delfont Mackintosh Theatres keeps the most: £25.09 of every £100 of turnover becomes pre-tax profit. National Theatre does worst, losing £1.94.
Financing bites hardest at LW Theatres: £2.91 of every £100 goes on interest.
Every profit figure here is the one the company filed.
The chart splits each company's turnover into £100: what goes on people, on interest and on everything else, and what is left as profit.
Out of every £100 of turnover
Each column is £100 of that company's own turnover, so companies of any size compare on one scale; the figures are pounds out of each £100, not millions. Companies run from the best margin to the worst. Payroll is staff costs, financing is interest paid, other running costs are everything else, and profit is pre-tax profit, filed or estimated as marked in the table. A loss is not an extra cost: it is the part of the costs that runs past the £100 line, marked with a red bracket. Hover over any segment for its figure.
Who is the biggest, and does the comparison hold?
By turnover the order is Royal Opera House (£182m), LW Theatres (£180m), National Theatre (£129m), Delfont Mackintosh Theatres (£77m).
By headcount, Royal Opera House leads with 1,162 employees.
The accounting periods all end within 5 months of each other. The bases differ: group accounts include the businesses a company owns, single-company accounts do not.
Turnover on the latest filing
Who is growing fastest?
LW Theatres grew fastest, turnover +89.3% on its own prior year, ahead of Delfont Mackintosh Theatres (+8.0%), National Theatre (+6.0%), Royal Opera House (+0.1%).
Turnover change on each company's own prior year
Who employs the most, who pays the most, and who brings in the most per head?
Royal Opera House employs the most, 1,162 people, against 931 at National Theatre.
Royal Opera House has the highest average staff cost, about £64,000 a head; Delfont Mackintosh Theatres the lowest, about £39,000.
LW Theatres brings in the most turnover per employee, about £286,000, against £113,000 at Delfont Mackintosh Theatres. It says as much about the business model as the workforce: a marketplace or a wholesaler needs far fewer people per pound than a restaurant or a gym.
LW Theatres
629
employees, about £44,000 pay a head, £286,000 turnover a head, +72.3% on the year
Delfont Mackintosh Theatres
682
employees, about £39,000 pay a head, £113,000 turnover a head, +2.7% on the year
Royal Opera House
1,162
employees, about £64,000 pay a head, £157,000 turnover a head, +6.0% on the year
National Theatre
931
employees, about £54,000 pay a head, £138,000 turnover a head, +10.8% on the year
Who owns each one?
Ownership as recorded on the Companies House register of people with significant control, in the bands the register uses.
Held by Lw Entertainment Limited
A company recorded as a person with significant control. 15 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns LW Theatres →
Delfont Mackintosh Theatres Limited · 02518625Held by Sir Cameron Anthony Mackintosh
An individual recorded as a person with significant control. 2 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Delfont Mackintosh Theatres →
Royal Opera House Covent Garden Foundation · 00480523No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control. 5 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns Royal Opera House →
The Royal National Theatre · 00749504No controller recorded
The register shows no person with significant control. 4 outstanding charges on the register.
Who owns National Theatre →
What does the full ledger show?
| Measure | LW Theatres | Delfont Mackintosh Theatres | Royal Opera House | National Theatre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Registered name | LW THEATRES GROUP LIMITED | DELFONT MACKINTOSH THEATRES LIMITED | ROYAL OPERA HOUSE COVENT GARDEN FOUNDATION | THE ROYAL NATIONAL THEATRE |
| Company number | 03987955 | 02518625 | 00480523 | 00749504 |
| Incorporated | 2000 | 1990 | 1950 | 1963 |
| Accounts filed | 24 February 2026 | 27 December 2025 | 4 June 2026 | 23 December 2025 |
| Turnover, prior year | £95m | £72m | £182m | £121m |
| Pre-tax profit, prior year | -£3m | £17m | £10m | -£4m |
| Staff costs | £28m | £27m | £74m | £51m |
| Payroll share of turnover | 15.5% | 34.4% | 40.9% | 39.4% |
| Employees, prior year | 365 | 664 | 1,096 | 840 |
| Dividends paid | n/d | n/d | n/d | n/d |
| Charges outstanding | 15 | 2 | 5 | 4 |
A figure the filing does not disclose is shown as n/d; a zero in a filing is treated as not disclosed. Rounding: below £0.1m in thousands, £0.1m to £2m to one decimal place, above that to the nearest million.
Theatres: common questions
Who is the biggest of LW Theatres, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres, Royal Opera House or National Theatre?
Royal Opera House, with turnover of £182m in the year to August 2025.
Which makes the most profit?
LW Theatres: £20m pre-tax in the year to June 2025.
Which employs the most people?
Royal Opera House, with 1,162 employees in its latest accounts.
LW Theatres or Delfont Mackintosh Theatres: which is bigger?
LW Theatres, with turnover of £180m against £77m at Delfont Mackintosh Theatres on their latest filings. On margin, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
LW Theatres or Royal Opera House: which is bigger?
Royal Opera House, with turnover of £182m against £180m at LW Theatres on their latest filings. On margin, LW Theatres keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
LW Theatres or National Theatre: which is bigger?
LW Theatres, with turnover of £180m against £129m at National Theatre on their latest filings. On margin, LW Theatres keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Delfont Mackintosh Theatres or Royal Opera House: which is bigger?
Royal Opera House, with turnover of £182m against £77m at Delfont Mackintosh Theatres on their latest filings. On margin, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Delfont Mackintosh Theatres or National Theatre: which is bigger?
National Theatre, with turnover of £129m against £77m at Delfont Mackintosh Theatres on their latest filings. On margin, Delfont Mackintosh Theatres keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit.
Royal Opera House or National Theatre: which is bigger?
Royal Opera House, with turnover of £182m against £129m at National Theatre on their latest filings. On margin, Royal Opera House keeps more of each £100 as pre-tax profit. The full head to head is in the VS Series. Read the VS page →
Where do these figures come from?
Each company's latest accounts filed at Companies House. Each links to its full Spark Intel profile, which names the filing it comes from.
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