Ardent Leisure says visitor growth strong at theme parks
Ardent Leisure Group says its earnings have returned to levels unseen since disaster struck at its Dreamworld theme park seven years ago, with its shares up sharply after it hinted it would return capital to investors.
The entertainment group said fears of a slowdown in consumer spending were overdone.
Ardent Leisure’s Dreamworld posts best earnings since tragedy struck in 2016. Getty
Shares in Ardent Leisure jumped 12.36 per cent to 50¢ on Monday after the group said its unaudited revenue was the highest since financial year 2016, up 70 per cent on 2022 levels to $83.9 million.
However, the stock remains down more than 30 per cent from a 12-month high of 72¢ a share on February 24 amid lingering concerns about a slowdown in consumer sentiment that appears to have not eventuated.
Growth in the second half slowed to 30 per cent “despite macroeconomic headwinds and the business cycling an unimpeded second half of financial year 2022, which included its busiest Easter period for several years”.
Ardent Leisure is the operator of the Gold Coast theme parks Dreamworld and WhiteWater World, and the SkyPoint Observation Deck at the top of the Q1 skyscraper at Surfers Paradise.
Its bumper profits come as other travel operators say demand for domestic tourism remains robust, despite lingering concerns about the health of the economy.
Shareholders were also gifted a positive surprise on Monday when the entertainment and leisure group said it was sitting on about $141 million in cash.
It has a pipeline of investments for new rides and attractions totalling $50 million to $60 million, to be delivered mostly in financial years 2024 and 2025, but said it “continues to review its capital position and funding requirements”.
While Ardent
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