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Australian media company Village Roadshow Limited (VRL) has reported total income of 936,357 million AUD (approx $845 million) for the twelve-months ended June 30 of its fiscal year 2013, up 1% compared to prior year. The attributable net profit after tax resulting of its four main activities (theme parks, film production, film distribution and cinema exhibition) amounted to 50,931 million AUD (approx $46 million).
Global activities of Village Roadshow Theme Parks, which includes the Gold Coast Theme Parks division in Australia* as well as the Wet'n'Wild Water Parks division in the United States**, have performed well during the fiscal, recording combined revenues of 298.3 million AUD (approx $269 million) and EBITDA of 89.3 million AUD, respectively up 7% and 2.3% over the previous year.
The operating result was up 2% to stand at 30.5 million AUD, representing a 31.2 million operating profit for the Gold Coast Theme Park division slightly offset by an operating loss of 0.7 million for the USA Water Parks division due to a 2 million AUD exceptional expense of pre-opening costs for the newly opened Wet’n’Wild Las Vegas. This performance was achieved despite inclement weather on the Gold Coast during key holiday periods in the second half of the financial year.
“Buoyed by better weather, improving economic conditions, appealing capital product additions, and the continued success of the popular Annual Pass program (VIP), the Gold Coast parks enjoyed a very strong first half-year performance. Unfortunately, the second half of the financial year was marked by the return of wet weather. The last week of January including the Australia Day weekend (Cyclone Oswald), a week during the Easter holidays, the Queen’s Birthday weekend, and the first full week of the winter school holidays were all negatively impacted by heavy rain,” commented the company.
Total attendance for the Gold Coast theme parks was 5.4 million visitors, an increase of 15.3% compared to prior year. Warner Bros. Movie World continues to anchor the division with an attendance exceeding 2 million guests (+17,5%) for the first time ever, a performance explained by the continued success of both the highly popular DC super hero attractions, including the recent opening of the interactive dark ride Justice League (designed by Sally Corp.) and the special events including young adult oriented Halloween Fright Nights, and the family-focussed White Christmas.
Sea World attendance was up year on year 17.8%, thanks to the positively impact of the new animatronic Dinosaur Island exhibit (by Dinosaurs Unearthed) and the new animal attraction Seal Harbour. Wet‘n’Wild Gold Coast attendance was up 17.4% due to strong VIP sales and the opening of the water slide Constrictor (supplied by WhiteWater).
“The division’s ongoing focus on VIP sales underpinned the financial performance of the Gold Coast parks. The combination of strong unit sales and a consistently high yield delivered an impressive 3.8 million AUD increase in admissions revenue to 139.3 million AUD, an increase of 2.8% over the previous financial year. It should also be noted that the higher VIP unit sales played a major role in the attendance increase, resulting in an in-park revenue increase of 9.3 million AUD or 10.6% over the previous financial year,” added the company.
US water parks attendance increased 29% at 900,000 visitors. Wet‘n’Wild Hawaii and Wet’n’Wild Phoenix both enjoyed solid FY2013 performances with strong season pass sales and a disciplined approach to expense control. Village Roadshow Theme Parks opened Wet‘n’Wild Las Vegas, on time and on budget, on Memorial Day weekend in the USA in late May 2013. “Trading has been very solid since opening. Village Roadshow Theme Parks owns 51% of the park, and the company has a management contract with responsibility for the day to day operations of the property. June trading results were above budget but were impacted by the write-off of non-recurring pre-opening costs,” said the company.
Outlook: strong growth plans
Village Roadshow Theme Parks’ primary focus in the future will be to explore development and management opportunities in Asia. The division is currently moving forward with its partner in China (Guangzhou R&F Properties Co. Ltd.) to manage the theme park currently under construction on Hainan Island. The mega-park will include a wide array of marine exhibits, cutting edge thrill rides and a large water park. The first phase of the park is currently scheduled to open in late 2014.
The company also stated that Wet'n'Wild Sydney remains on schedule to open to the public in December 2013. The new park will feature state of the art attractions, including a combination of lazy and action river, Australia’s largest wave pool and a range of spectacular water slides deemed as unmatched by any water park in the world.
Gold Coast Theme Parks performance should be underpinned by the new rides offering including with the hybrid/water coaster 'The Storm Coaster' (supplied by MACK Rides) to open soon at Sea World.
*: The Gold Coast Theme Parks division includes Warner Bros. Movie World, Sea World,
Wet‘n’Wild Gold Coast, Australian Outback Spectacular, Paradise Country, Village Roadshow
Studios, Sea World Resort & Water Park and Sea World Helicopters.
**: The USA Water Parks division now consists of three water parks, Wet‘n’Wild Phoenix located in
Arizona, Wet‘n’Wild Hawaii located on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, and Wet’n’Wild Las Vegas in Nevada.
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NewsParcs will do a full coverage of the IAAPA Attractions Expo 2013 in Orlando to have a look at the latest trends and developments of the global theme park industry.
Global activities of Village Roadshow Theme Parks, which includes the Gold Coast Theme Parks division in Australia* as well as the Wet'n'Wild Water Parks division in the United States**, have performed well during the fiscal, recording combined revenues of 298.3 million AUD (approx $269 million) and EBITDA of 89.3 million AUD, respectively up 7% and 2.3% over the previous year.
