Village Roadshow bosses take 25% pay cut

Village Roadshow's directors and bosses have agreed to a 25 per cent cut in feeds and pay as the group writes down the value of its Gold Coast theme parks.

A farther and Daughter outside Movie World.

A drop in the value of Village Roadshow's Gold Coast theme parks has lead to executive pay cuts. (AAP)

Village Roadshow's top brass have agreed to a 25 per cent pay cut after the entertainment group wrote down the value of its Gold Coast theme parks.

The company will write down the value of its Gold Coast theme parks by $95 million due to the struggle to attract customers following the fatal accident at rival Ardent Leisure's Dreamworld in 2016.

Village Roadshow on Tuesday said it expects to book total full-year impairments of $166 million due to factors including lower earnings at its Gold Coast parks and an accounting hit from the sale and lease bank of land on the sunshine coast.

The operator of Movie World and Seaworld has flagged $9 million of restructuring costs and expects a full-year loss, excluding significant items, of between $6 million and $10 million.

In response, Village Roadshow has flagged costs savings of more than $10 million in 2018/19, in addition to cost savings of $2 million in the financial year just ended.

All directors have agreed to a 25 per cent cut in fees from July 1, and the group's co-chair and chief executive have accepted a 25 per cent reduction in fixed remuneration.

Co-chief executive and co-chairman Graham Burke said the group is focused on improving the operating performance of its core businesses, cutting costs, limiting capital expenditure and "potentially selling some remaining non-core assets".

"Achievement of this objective would enhance VRL's financial flexibility to recommence the payment of dividends and execute on strategic initiatives," Mr Burke said in a statement.

The company expects core ticket sales to rise substantially in 2018/19 as more expensive annual passes are sold and discount resellers are removed from the market.

Village Roadshow shares have been halted since Monday morning to allow the company to raise $51 million via a share offer at $1.65 a share.

The stock closed 2.7 per cent lower at $2.18 on Friday.

The share offer and proceeds from the recent sale of Wet'n'Wild water park in Western Sydney will be used to help pay down Village Roadshow's $425 million debt.


Share
2 min read

Published

Source: AAP


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world