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- Theme park and cinema operator Village Roadshow (VRL) has secured a $70 million loan facility as its operations continue to languish under COVID-19 restrictions
- The company received the loan from the Queensland Treasury Corporation and its other existing lenders are set to shore up liquidity over the next 12 months
- Village Roadshow began reopening Movie World and Sea World in the middle of last month, albeit at 50 per cent capacity to maintain social distancing protocols
- However, some of the company’s cinema operations in Melbourne and Victoria have remained closed following the recent virus outbreaks
- Connected to the facility, Village Roadshow is undertaking a shareholder equity raise for a minimum of $35 million
- Village Roadshow shares are grey today, priced at $2.10 each
Theme park and cinema operator, Village Roadshow (VRL) has secured a $70 million loan facility, as its operations continue to languish under COVID-19 restrictions.
The company arranged the financing from the Queensland Treasury Corporation and its other existing lenders. The new funds currently remain undrawn, but Village Roadshow expects to utilise the new facility to continue its operations during the recent downturn.
After closing its theme parks following the onset of the pandemic, the company has since reopened its Movie World and Sea World locations at 50 per cent capacity. As interstate travel remains volatile during the pandemic, much of the theme parks’ returning patrons are from the immediate Queensland region.
Turning the Village Roadshow cinemas, a number of locations in metropolitan Melbourne and Victoria remain closed after new cases number in those regions began to grow. However, cinemas in unaffected areas of the country are continuing to reopen under stringent social distancing restrictions.
During the closures, the company was operating at a $10 million to $15 million per month net loss. With operations beginning to restart, the company’s ongoing losses have lessened but have not yet returned to profitable levels.
To manage the recent instability, Village Roadshow has drawn heavily from its standing $340 million debt facility, which currently has just $5 million left undrawn.
Connected to the new facility announced today, Village Roadshow is undertaking a shareholder equity raise for a minimum of $35 million.
With this most recent liquidity injection, Village Roadshow claims to have the cash-on-hand required to continue operating for at least the next 12 months.
Village Roadshow shares are grey today, priced at $2.10 each at 10:45 am AEST.
