Bosses accept big pay cut Top brass at Village Roadshow to get 25pc less

VILLAGE Roadshow’s top brass have agreed to a 25 per cent pay cut after the entertainment group wrote down the value of its Gold Coast theme parks.

The company will write down the value of its Gold Coast theme parks by $95 million because of the struggle to attract customers in the wake of the fatalities of four people at rival Ardent Leisure’s Dreamworld in 2016.

Village Roadshow yesterday said it expected to book total full-year impairments of $166 million due to factors including lower earnings at its Gold Coast parks and an accounting hit from the sale and leaseback of land on the Sunshine Coast.

The operator of Movie World (right) and SeaWorld has flagged $9 million of restructuring costs and expects a full-year loss, excluding significant items, of between $6 million and $10 million.

In response, Village Roadshow has flagged cost savings of more than $10 million in 2018-19, in addition to cost savings of $2 million in the financial year just ended.

All directors have agreed to a 25 per cent cut in fees from July 1, and the group’s cochairman and chief executive have accepted a 25 per cent reduction in fixed remuneration. Co-chief executive and cochairman Graham Burke said the group was focused on improving the operating performance of its core businesses, cutting costs, limiting capital expenditure and “potentially selling some remaining non-core assets”.

“Achievement of this objective would enhance VRL’s financial flexibility to recommence the payment of dividends and execute on strategic initiatives,” Mr Burke said in a statement.

The company expects core ticket sales to rise substantially in 2018-19.

Village Roadshow shares have been halted since Monday morning to allow the company to raise $51 million via a share offer at $1.65 a share.

The stock closed 2.7 per cent lower at $2.18 on Friday.

The share offer and proceeds from the recent sale of Wet’n’Wild water park in Western Sydney will be used to help pay down Village Roadshow’s $425 million debt.