$30m on upgrades to grab visitors

tual theatre is also on the cards for Dreamworld, which launched its Trolls Village attraction earlier this year.

The improved year-on-year earnings were largely driven by the valuation loss and impairments of $79.6 million relating to Dreamworld and SkyPoint being lower than the prior year valuation loss of $89.5 million relating to Dreamworld.

The gains were partially offset by “higher Dreamworld incident related expenses”, which the company said amounted to $6.2 million in the current year compared to $5.4 million in the prior year.

The company’s overall revenue was impacted by its shedding of business including its marinas and bowling and entertainment divisions, but revenue across its continuing businesses was up 16.1 per cent on the previous year, taking into account the change in the company’s reporting methods.

Chairman Gary Weiss said the company intended to bring a “river ride” to WhiteWater World, but declined to elaborand ate further. The company followed up its results with emails to its vast ticketholder database, spruiking the Brickman exhibition, which boasts “the tallest Lego model in the Southern Hemisphere” – a NASA SLS rocket, built from more than 450,000 bricks.

Dr Weiss said the company was itself looking to build a more successful model.

“Acknowledging that the return to visitation has been slower than had been anticipated 12 months ago, we are seeing a return to visitation we think that will continue to improve, especially as we continue to invest in the park with new attractions, new events and new rides,” he said.

Dr Weiss will chair the group’s safety and sustainability committee, following the departure of Roger Davis.

The group has also appointed an independent safety auditor to the board.

Ardent will pay a 6.5c distribution to shareholders on August 31. Shares in the company rose 2.81 per cent from $1.75 to close at $1.83 yesterday.