Ticket sales at Village Roadshow theme parks are showing signs of recovery, although the company's chief executive says the fatal accident at rival Dreamworld is weighing on mums' minds.
Village Roadshow on Friday said it experienced a 26 per cent drop in first-half earnings from a theme park portfolio that includes Sea World, Warners Bros. Movie World and Wet'n'Wild.
But chief executive Graham Burke said January ticket yields have since spiked up 30 per cent on a year ago and that a strong February suggest a second-half recovery.
Mr Burke said the death of four people on a water ride at Dreamworld in October 2016 was still to blame for theme park earnings in the six months to December 31.
"It just spooked mums and mums were nervous about putting their children on rides," Mr Burke told investors.
"It really hurt our Gold Coast business."
Higher ticket prices introduced in November, new attractions, including the DC Rivals HyperCoaster at Movie World, and a new marketing strategy were driving Village Roadshow's second-half improvement, he said.
"Dreamworld's brand is way less competitive for tragic reasons, but now that we have the HyperCoaster ... and enhancements at Sea World, our total offering is so much superior to the competitor's offering," Mr Burke said.
Village Roadshow expects the division's full-year earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) to beat the previous year's.
The extent of the uplift will largely depend on May and June ticket sales.
Village Roadshow swung back to a $171.9 million first-half profit from a $6.7 million loss a year ago, largely due to the $154 million sale of its 50 per cent stake in Golden Village Singapore cinemas.
Earnings from cinemas dropped 28 per cent to $21.7 million but the division, which was hit by the timing of blockbusters in the period, is forecast to have a better second half because of the number of blockbusters to come.
The company will finish the financial year on a strong note with The Avengers, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Deadpool 2 and Jurassic World - Fallen Kingdom all in its last quarter.
Stripping out the impact of the $154 million sale of its Singapore stake and other one-offs, EBITDA was $49.8 million, down from $78.4 million in the prior corresponding period.
Village Roadshow has forecast full-year net profit for the current financial year in the range of $12 million to $17 million.
Shares in Village Roadshow closed up 17 cents, or 5.5 per cent at $3.26
VILLAGE ROADSHOW RETURNS TO H1 PROFIT
* Net profit of $171.9m v $6.7m loss
* Revenue down 5pct to $515.2m
* Other income $169.3m v $15.9m
* No interim dividend, unchanged
