Heroic effort sees Village flying high
VILLAGE Roadshow theme parks sold a record number of season passes in July after scrapping discounted tickets sold through resellers like Groupon.
The all-important season pass sales were $3.2 million above budget for 2017-18 and $6 million up on the prior corresponding period.
It’s one reason the group is positive about the future after two years of pain sparked by the tragedy at rival theme park Dreamworld and exacerbated by a Commonwealth Games boom that turned to a business bust.
Village Roadshow returned from last year’s $66.7 million loss to post a narrow profit, the company announced yesterday.
The MovieWorld, Wet’n’Wild, Top Golf and Sea World operator netted $200,000 profit in the year to June 30, a result it said was pummelled by the misfired Commonwealth Games and the ongoing impact of four deaths on a ride at rival theme park Dreamworld.
Village Roadshow Ltd shares closed 2¢ lower yesterday at $2.26.
The profit widens to $7.5 million when the $100 million sale of the company’s Oxenford land, and the $40 million sale of its Wet’n’Wild in Sydney, are taken into account.
Pre-tax earnings were sharply down on the previous year, diving from $136.3 million to $90.9 million.
Village is continuing to be harmed by the fatal tragedy at Dreamworld, owned by rival operator Ardent Leisure, which yesterday announced an eye-watering $88.6 million loss for the year – $26 million higher than the previous year’s $62.6 million loss.
At the helm of the theme parks division of Village Roadshow, co-founded by his grandfather, Clark Kirby has overseen the biggest swath of investment in the Gold Coast parks for decades. He said the aggressive approach was paying off.
“A lot of work was put into our offering and pricing structure,” Mr Kirby said.
“We are seeing both attendances and ticket sales increase. We are very positive about the year to come.”
Village Roadshow spent about $30 million on its new DC Rivals HyperCoaster last year and has recently opened Australia’s first Top Golf.
Mr Kirby said the results since removing the discounted tickets proved customers saw the value in the park’s offerings.
“It’s more about taking the discounts out of the market and taking a longer-term view,” he said.
“We’re providing more night-time events and putting more money back into the parks. We’re looking to bring more of the excitement and more events.”