Park’s big loss

But rollercoaster is a go

DREAMWORLD owner Ardent Leisure says it will start work on a new multi-launch rollercoaster “as soon as possible” after an injection of $70 million in state funds.

It was revealed in Ardent’s full-year results on Thursday that included a section on reopening its theme parks, including Dreamworld and WhiteWater World, scheduled for September 16.

Ardent took delivery of what it calls the southern hemisphere’s first multi-launch rollercoaster earlier this year.

But the Sydney-based firm, which shut its parks in March due to COVID-19, was forced to store the rollercoaster in its car park due to a lack of funds.

Chief strategy officer Paul Callender said at the time the rollercoaster needed significant capital investment, including $17m in contractor works. That has all changed after the State Government earlier this month served up a three-year financial package of $69.9m for the parks.

Ardent now has more than $100m available for the Australian business (including $32.6m of its own cash).

The US Main Event business – family entertainment centres mostly in Texas – have considerably more cash available at $129m but both funding pools are kept separate.

Ardent will close two rides – Wiggles-themed Big Red Car and surf simulator Flowrider – at Dreamworld after a review.

“The remaining ride count will be comparable to our closest competitor and presents a diverse range of kids, family and thrill rides,” Ardent said.

Ardent Leisure reported a $136.6m loss for the full year after closure of its Gold Coast theme parks and Main Event centres in the US due to COVID-19. The Sydney-based company said revenue for the 12 months to June 30 was $398.3m, down $85m on the previous period.

Ardent reported $54.5m in revenue from Gold Coast theme parks – down 18.8 per cent on the prior period, largely due to the closure of the parks in March.

It said prior to COVID revenue was $51.4m and growth in attendance and revenue was 4.5 per cent and 4.7 per cent respectively. The company also revealed it had sold a 5630sq m block of land in Coomera that was surplus to requirements for $2.5m.

Chairman Dr Gary Weiss said COVID-19 had a significant impact on the business.

“While positive progress has been achieved by Main Event and Theme Parks in the first eight months of the year, our focus turned to capital management and securing capital for the businesses as the COVID-19 pandemic escalated,” he said.

Theme parks chief executive John Osborne said his team continued to focus on minimising cash burn, which was $5m and $10m per month, and taking a “disciplined” approach to reopening.

“We are facing the toughest set of business conditions in decades meaning uncertainty is likely to prevail for some time.”