Ardent Leisure FY 20 results

[Tim Dasco]

Main summaries:

• Ardent leisure has $161.6 Million Cash as off 30th Jun (Compared to $92.3 million year prior)
• Net Debt as off 30th June was $78.4 Million, a reduction compared to $87.3 million in June 2019
• Revenue increased $2.3 million, up 4.7% on a 35 week like-for-like basis vs prior period for theme parks
• EBITDA loss excluding specific items of $2.5 million on a 35 week like-for-like basis, an improvement of 56.4% compared to the prior period
• Investments continue on new rides such as Sky voyager, Fully 6 and a new multi-launch roller coaster
• Corporate costs reduced by $9.4 million or 62.1% on a pro forma basis compared to FY19

 

Quote

• Attendance and revenue for the division were down 21.0% and 18.8% respectively compared to prior period due to all venues being closed from 23 March 2020
• Excluding Specific Items, the division recorded an EBITDA loss of $7.8 million, which is a 22.2% improvement compared to the prior period
• Prior to the pandemic (period ending February 2020) the division experienced attendance and revenue growth of 4.5%4 and 4.7%4 respectively and a 56.4%4 improvement in EBITDA excluding Specific Items compared to the prior corresponding period
• The positive trends that are evident from the pre- pandemic trading are very encouraging and show that the transformation plan was gaining momentum and delivering rapidly improved results
• A focus on the preservation of cash, ongoing reductions to the cost base and refinancing the division during the temporary closure has positioned the division well for a successful reopening in September 2020

 

Dreamworld:

• Venues closed on 23 March 2020 and remained closed for the balance of FY20 and into FY21
• As a result, 804 or 91% of our team members were stood down temporally leaving approx 60 FTE's to complete essential tasks and prepare a plan for reopening
• Strong focus on cash preservation and generation
• On 23 March, cash available to the Australian Business was $33.1 million and as at the date of this presentation, this amount is largely unchanged:
  • Ceasing all non-essential operating and capital expenditure
  • The sale of a small parcel (5,630 sum) of surplus lan was completed in June 2020. The sale price of $2.5 million was 250% of the pre-covid book value
• The Dreamworld LEGO store continued to trade and recorded revenue growth of 11.4% compared to prior corresponding period.
• The Queensland Government provided a $3.0 million great in July 2020 under its Queensland Tourism Icons Program 2020 to fund working Capital and approved capital expenditure. 
• The Federal Government's JobKeeper scheme provided approximately $6 million of direct support to our stood down team members. 

 

Reopening Dates:

• Sky point reopened on 10 July 2020 and current trading is cash neutral including support from the JobKeeper Scheme
• Subject to no further COVID-19 restrictions being imposed, Dreamworld and Whitewater World are expected to reopen on 16 September 2020, prior to the commencement of school holidays.
• Covid safe plans for all venues have been approved. In the case of Dreamworld and WhiteWater World the plan allows up to 50% of historical Capacity. 
• The cost base for Dreamworld and Whitewater World has been reduced by $10-$12 million per annum compared to normalised FY20 levels.
• The reduced cost bas will provide scope to drive volume and market share.

 

Reopening Plan:

• Economic environments calls for a focus on targeting the local SEQ drive market
• International markets may no return for two years and interstate markets are likely to be restricted for some time
• The only reliable market we can target is local SEQ drive market Reopening product.
• All attractions art the recently refurbished and improved WhiteWater World are expected to be available from the reopening date. Based on low demand in cooler months WhiteWater World will move to a seasonal trading model.
• Construction of the new $32 million world class launch roller coaster will commence as soon as possible and this new attraction is expected to open in the second half of CY21.
• Several Iconic attractions such as the SideWinder roller coaster and popular Pipeline Plunge water slide complex are currently being extensively refurbished and rebranded and will add to the many improvements made to the parks over the last two years.
• A detailed review of the ride and attraction usage has been carried out and the ride count at Dreamworld will be permanently reduced by two in order to remove duplication. The remaining ride count will be comparable to our closest competitor and presets a diverse range of kids, family and thrill rides.
• Areas and attractions within our Dreamworld Corroboree percent will be temporarily closed pending the return of international and interstate markets.
• Its planned to continue successful events introduced last year such as Happy Halloween and winterfest.

 

Link to information : https://www.ardentleisure.com/investor-centre/investor-resources/asx-releases/2020-2/

 

 

 

[Park Addict 93]

I'm on the presentation call, construction to start in October for the new coaster.

[StingRay]

Thanks for that. Interesting about the land. Any idea what location?. As for the comment about duplicating attractions that's a massive win. Something that they had always done in the past was having two of the same things (in some regards).

Interesting to see they state two years before international guest return. I think this is the first time an Australian tourism operator has state this.

[Tim Dasco]

So on the conference call: Buzzsaw is waiting on a part, Roller coaster expected to start construction in October, Buzzsaw will open before Christmas and will be open till at least until the coaster opens. More attractions in the pipeline and works. Buzzsaw isn't really popular and sounds like might be the next attraction to leave. 

 

Also Sky Voyager is being looked into changing up the ride video.

Edited August 27, 2020 by Tim Dasco

[Brad2912]

Interesting that BS may go. It’s not the best ride but it’s relatively new compared to the others. Unless the maintenance/parts are becoming prohibitive or the land is earmarked for something else, it seems strange.

Fantastic news on a new video for SV

[Slick]

24 minutes ago, StingRay said:

Thanks for that. Interesting about the land. Any idea what location?. As for the comment about duplicating attractions that's a massive win. Something that they had always done in the past was having two of the same things (in some regards).

They have two Flowriders/Big Red Cars?

[StingRay]

Just now, Slick said:

They have two Flowriders/Big Red Cars?

If you count the wave pool and model T Fords then sure

I think they meant more ride experiences being the same. You know. Just the twirl and hurl. 

[Slick]

Am I missing something here?

The two rides going are Flowrider and Big Red Car - they're being removed because they're "duplicates" of other rides, but you can't surf a wave in the wave pool like Flowrider and Big Red Car is Dreamworld's only traditional dark ride.

...And this is somehow a win?

Edited August 27, 2020 by Slick

[Gold Coast Amusement Force]

I really hope they don't remove Buzzsaw. They can't afford to remove any more thrill rides even after the new coaster opens.

2 minutes ago, Slick said:

Am I missing something here?

The two rides going are Flowrider and Big Red Car - they're being removed because they're "duplicates" of other rides, but you can't surf a wave in the wave pool like Flowrider and Big Red Car is Dreamworld's only traditional dark ride.

...And this is somehow a win?

Yeah I don't understand what the duplicate of the Big Red Car is? Unless they are referring to the new kids ride yet to be announced.

Edited August 27, 2020 by Slick

[red dragin]

Maybe Buzzsaw can go to LPS or LPM.... 🎣 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

18 minutes ago, red dragin said:

Maybe Buzzsaw can go to LPS or LPM.... 🎣 

*wont fit*blah*river caves*blah*lindsay fox*blah* and so on.

[RileyK]

That's becoming quite the extensive list now, particularly in a very short period of time...
- TOT
- Wipeout
- Stingray
- Big Red Car Ride
- Flowrider
- Log Ride
- Buzzsaw (potentially has a short life to live?)
- "Attraction of similar experience?"
- "Attraction of similar experience?"

Also a little disappointing that on top of this 2 to 3 of the Thrill/Family rides will be closed at any one time for the remaining months of this year. 

[StingRay]

37 minutes ago, Slick said:

Am I missing something here?

The two rides going are Flowrider and Big Red Car - they're being removed because they're "duplicates" of other rides, but you can't surf a wave in the wave pool like Flowrider and Big Red Car is Dreamworld's only traditional dark ride.

...And this is somehow a win?

Yeah, you are missing things. Those two rides are leaving as they were not popular. Flow Rider was an upcharge attraction and not meeting expectation. Also being in the wrong place most likely didn't help its cause.

BRC (wave to wags) seemed to be losing interest within the last 18 months. It also seemed maybe the ride was seriously outdated (as we know) and was going to cost too much to revamp. Hence why it been removed also.

As for the comment about "Duplicating", It appears they are looking at what the attractions provide given how popular they are. So if we look at Vintage cars VS BRC they both a are driving attractions. But Vintage has a much higher output per hour over BRC. Think of all the set theming may be and the maintenance required to keep this attraction going. If it is not super popular then why keep investing in it. Especially if it is run down.

They are also looking at the future when it comes to duplicating. You don't want a park full of a bunch of Shockwaves. So I think this is what they are trying to look at and achieve long term. Avoid trying to have the same pony tricks as much as possible. It was also interesting to here they know what is popular within the park, But most importantly they also know what is not popular.



 

[Rachelkinks]

Interesting to note that there was no mention of the ABC kids refurbishment/ expansion 

[Tim Dasco]

4 minutes ago, Rachelkinks said:

Interesting to note that there was no mention of the ABC kids refurbishment/ expansion 

Or Future Lab project 

[GoGoBoy]

Is the permanent reduction of 2 rides in addition to the many many rides that have been removed recently? Makes sense not to duplicate, but their current ride line up is lacking on so many levels, made far worse by recent removals.

[joz]

So WWW going to seasonal, selling land and reducing the ride count by 2 permanently is a win? I can imagine what people here would have been  like on the Titanic: 'I have it on good authority that the destination is New York, so hitting the Iceberg is just another master stroke from Captain Smith! Plus it's so much quicker to go from the back of the ship to the front now!'

[Park Addict 93]

18 minutes ago, Rachelkinks said:

Interesting to note that there was no mention of the ABC kids refurbishment/ expansion 

13 minutes ago, Tim Dasco said:

Or Future Lab project 

In the Q&A somebody asked about the "Master Plan" and they stated it is on hold due to Covid.

 

Edited August 27, 2020 by Park Addict 93

[Pyro]

The two ride removals they are talking about are Big Red Car and flowrider. Park wispier is that flowrider has been sold. 

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

44 minutes ago, RileyK said:

That's becoming quite the extensive list now, particularly in a very short period of time...
- TOT
- Wipeout
- Stingray
-<snip>

Am I missing something here?

Stingray is not a recent removal. The Parkz database suggests this was removed in 2012, which sounds about right. I think the confusion is coming from the fact that a recent Parkz article incorrectly tagged Stingray instead of the Log Ride, which Richard subsequently fixed up.

[themagician]

Considering BuzzSaw is not even 10 years old, that’s pretty poor. I assume it comes down to poor park care/maintenance for several years leading up to 2016. While it isn’t the best, it’s an essential attraction for the park right now 

[joz]

Its easy to assume that, but with Buzzsaw it really is poor support from the manufacturer. I've been saying for years that Buzzsaw was in that group of rides with ToT, Wipeout, and RHLR that didn't have much life in them and serious thought needed to be given to their replacement.

[red dragin]

14 minutes ago, themagician said:

Considering BuzzSaw is not even 10 years old, that’s pretty poor. I assume it comes down to poor park care/maintenance for several years leading up to 2016. While it isn’t the best, it’s an essential attraction for the park right now 

Is it poor maintenance, or poor return on investment? Ie sell it to a smaller park where it will be a big attraction, versus maintaining something that no one really wants to ride (especially once the new coaster is in).

[DaptoFunlandGuy]

It didn't even operate half the time due to, among other things, the issues with the restraint redundancy locks and the need to add seatbelts and such.

Its difficulties were also compounded by the park closing off one row of seats so operators could use that row to cross over the station to perform restraint checks with one operator instead of the two intended. This impacted throughput\capacity. Also the ride is capable of multiple cycles and indeed operated that way in its first week before being returned to a single revolution - a lot of build up for a very short ride leaves many unsatisfied.

[rappa]

I think this is the one time that you can say Dreamworld isn't really at fault for that ride being a pile of crap that now needs to go.

Whilst we can argue they should have invested in a proper coaster and not some cheap one trick plonk it down and go model, they seem to have gotten fairly screwed by a terrible design and manufacturer.
It seems about as well designed as the Giant Inverted Boomerangs really. About the only thing you can fault the park on is their usual cheap ways to save a park style of trying to run it with a single operator and sacrificing capacity to do so.