Village Roadshow Ltd names theme parks boss Clark Kirby as company CEO after share slump

Theme parks and cinema operator Village Roadshow has named a new CEO for the listed company.

The DC Rivals hypercoaster at Movie World has helped bring vistirs back for Village Roadshow. Picture: Jerad Williams

VILLAGE Roadshow has promoted its theme parks boss Clark Kirby to the role of company CEO after months of speculation.

In an announcement this afternoon, Village said Mr Kirby, grandson of Village founder Roc Kirby, would commence the role on new Years Day.

The company will split its longstanding dual role of CEO and executive chairman in an effort to streamline its board structure, which had come under fire from investors an analysts.

Executive chairman Robert Kirby, will step down as co-executive chairman once an external search for a new chairman is complete.

Clark Kirby will start an expanded role as CEO of Village Roadshow Ltd on January 1. Pic: Adam Head

SUBSCRIBE AND GET FULL DIGITAL ACCESS + JABRA WIRELESS HEADPHONES

Clark Kirby replaces outgoing CEO and co-executive chairman Graham Burke, who announced his retirement in February but also remains on the board.

Mr Kirby, who will continue to head the theme parks division, said he was thrilled with the expanded responsibility and that he and his family would remain on the Gold Coast, where the company has pledged $50 million in capital expenditure on three new rides.

“My focus on theme parks will continue but I will have that broader view as of January i,” he said.

Village Roadshow shares have fallen more than $1.10 in the past month, wiping more than $215 million from its market valuation. It was trading at $7.95 in June 2014.

After closing at $2.82 on Wednesday, shares slid as low as $2.71 yesterday, but recovered after the announcement to close at $2.825.

Mr Kirby said speculation the sell-off was due to investor rejection of a trading presentation he made last week was wide of the mark.

“If you read all the analysts’ reports from people who were there, they were all very positive,” he said.

“Overall they were happy with our strategy.

‘The feedback was that there were concerns about corporate governance, in particular the dual role of executive chairman and CEO, but today’s announcement goes a long way to addressing those concerns.”

Graham Burke and Robert Kirby, Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officers of Village Roadshow at the candy bar in The Jam Factory Cinemas in South Yarra, Melbourne Picture: Geraghty David

In its strategy presentation to investors, Village revealed its $35 million investment in Topgolf had fallen well short of expectations and that a possible rollout of more Australian Topgolf facilities had been postponed indefinitely.

While the company had flagged already-underwhelming Topgolf earnings of $5 million for the financial year in February, this week it said the figure could be as low as $3 million.

Village said revenue at Topgolf had been disappointing in the second half to date, largely due to a lack of events, high wage costs and a “lack of understanding of the concept by interstate and Brisbane markets”.

Mr Kirby said the company had always planned to adjust the US-originated Topgolf model to suit Australian conditions.

“We’re still very confident in that business on the Gold Coast,” he said.

“We’ll be including TopGolf in our overall theme parks marketing going forward so we can help people understand that it’s as much a food and beverage and going-out place as it is a golf place.”

Clark Kirby with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk at the announcement of new rides at Sea World last month. Photo by Richard Gosling

Mr Kirby said, while he’d stay on the Coast, there were no plans to move the Village headquarters away from Melbourne.

‘That’s not been a consideration at this stage.”

The group said it would entertain a sale of its Wet’n’Wild water park in Las Vegas after the northern hemisphere summer and alluded to potential theme park management deals in Asia which would not require capital investment from Village.

The group’s theme parks division helped its listed parent company eke out a $2.4 million net profit for the first half of the financial year.

The group’s earnings of $65 million were up 31 per cent compared to the same time last year, with the company saying record January trade was likely to see full-year results strong enough to deliver shareholders their first dividend since the Dreamworld tragedy rocked the sector in 2016.