This morning Village Roadshow Ltd (ASX: VRL) reported its half-year results for the period ending December 31 2018. Below is a summary of the results with comparisons to the prior corresponding half year.
- Statutory net profit after tax of $2.4m, compared to $171.9m
- Net profit after tax excluding material items of $12.8m
- EBITDA of $65m, up 31%
- Net debt of $216.4m, reduced from $338.5m
- Net debt to EBITDA of 2.04x compared to 2.83x
- Group flagged "record January trading" to start 2019
The Village Roadshow share price is up 2.2% to $3.30 in response to the news as the group continues to cycle off the consequences of the tragic accident that caused several fatalities at a rival Dreamworld Theme Park in October 2016 operated by Ardent Leisure (ASX: ALL).
Other theme parks the group operates include Wet 'N' Wild, Movie World and Sea World at tourist hotspots around Australia. It reported January saw record ticket sales at its Gold Coast theme parks and Sea World Resort.
The cinemas division delivered some strong growth on the back of box office hits such as Crazy Rich Asians and Aquaman, with it even flagging that a decision to cut certain ticket prices had significantly boosted attendances.
It did not pay an interim dividend, but pleasingly for investors management flagged its intention to return to dividend payments on releasing its full year results in August.
