annual report
loss reported as per expectation. film income a bit down and no div - cant expect too much l guess.
however restructuring for the future beneficial,lets hope it is worth the wait. article;
"Village Roadshow Limited (VRL) today announced an after tax loss of $35.1 million for the year ended 30 June 2006 which the company said was consistent with their previous guidance. The result compares to a profit to a profit restated under AIFRS of $43.3 million the previous year.
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Managing director Graham Burke said they incurred some one-off expenses during the year, their focus was on positioning their businesses to best pursue growth opportunities, reducing the risk profile of the group and simplifying the structure.
The company noted during the 2006 financial year a number of material items and losses from discontinued businesses were recorded as a result of substantial progress in relation to the company’s restructuring program.
Chairman John Kirby said the massive restructuring over the last year was to position Village Roadshow for a strong future.
“The board of directors has great confidence in that future,” he added.
Excluding material items and discontinued businesses, VRL recorded attributable net profit of $20.1 million in the current year, compared to the previous year’s $197.4 million.
The integrated entertainment, leisure and tourism group advised material items for the year totalled a loss before tax of $49.7 million, with approximately $39 million of that related to the Film Production division restructure and settlement of legal claims.
Village highlighted discontinued operations in the period generated a net loss of $17.8 million including trading losses for Austria and the UK, trading profits for New Zealand and Fiji and a combined net loss on sale of Argentina and UK.
“The financial restructure of our Film Production business involving Crescent Entertainment and extension of the financing facility will enable this business to increase the number of films it produces and has substantially reduced VRL’s cash investment in this business,” Mr Burke said.
In a statement to the ASX, the company said the sale of Cinema Exhibition territories would enable the company to focus on core territories where they have strong cash flow and management control as well as reducing the company’s leasing commitments.
“Moving to 100% ownership of the Theme Parks brings significant strategic and operational benefits to VRL as it simplifies our structure and allows us access to 100% of free cash flow, whilst retaining access to the Warner Bros.,” Mr Burke added.
The group advised Austereo produced earnings growth this year, with EBIT increasing by 3.4% over the previous year, despite the impact of new licences during the year in Sydney and Melbourne.
Village also said the Film Distribution division produced a very solid result for the year, down marginally from the previous year’s record result.
The company said blockbuster performances from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory drove substantially higher box office revenues for Roadshow titles.
The group resolved not to pay a dividend, based on the results for the 2006 financial year.
VRL Price at posting:
0.0¢ Sentiment: Buy Disclosure: Not Held
