Theme park operator Ardent Leisure has recorded its first full-year revenue in seven years after a rollercoaster few years following the deaths of 4 vacationers at Dreamworld.
The group, which additionally owns WhiteWater World and Skypoint on the Gold Coast, introduced a internet revenue of $664.7 million on Friday after a $97.4 million loss the yr earlier than.
Ardent chief govt Greg Yong stated the end result was a major achievement given the substantial challenges the organisation has confronted because the 2016 tragedy and the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We are in the midst of an incredibly exciting time, with new attractions launching progressively over the coming years,” Mr Yong stated.
Theme park working income elevated 70 per cent from the prior yr to $83.9 million with whole attendances up 39 per cent, though progress slowed within the second half as inflationary pressures bore down on shoppers.
But the news was not all optimistic. The figures have been inflated by the sale of Ardent’s US-based leisure centre chain Main Event to Dave & Busters for $682.4 million, which means the group’s persevering with operations have been $17.7 million within the crimson.
“Against the backdrop of the aggressive interest rate increases over the last 15 months and the resultant impact on consumer spending on discretionary items, we are clearly in a difficult operating environment,” Mr Yong stated.
“It is our view that this is episodic rather than emblematic of our industry and further, we believe that if there was ever a time for an ‘experience economy’, it is now.”
The firm introduced on Thursday it had settled a shareholder class motion lawsuit filed in June 2020 to recoup the losses of people that purchased shares within the firm within the two years earlier than the tragedy on the Thunder River Rapids Ride.
Ardent would incur a one-off price of about $4 million in reference to the settlement and the stability of the settlement cost was absolutely insured, the corporate stated in a press release to the ASX.
Ardent introduced an on-market buyback of 10 per cent of its shares after figuring out its money balances of $141.4 million have been surplus to necessities.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
