Ardent Leisure CEO breaks silence

THE boss of Dreamworld owner Ardent Leisure has responded angrily to suggestions she turn down a nearly $850,000 bonus.

CEO Deborah Thomas arrives for the Ardent Leisure annual general meeting just days after the tragic death of four people at Dreamworld. Picture: Christopher Pearce/Getty Images

THE boss of Dreamworld owner Ardent Leisure has angrily responded to suggestions she turn down a nearly $850,000 bonus following Tuesday’s tragic accident which killed four people.

Breaking her silence at the company’s annual general meeting in Sydney on Thursday, chief executive Deb Thomas said it was “not the time to discuss” financial matters.

Shareholders approved the former Australian Women’s Weekly editor’s bonus of roughly $843,000. Proxy votes for the AGM closed early on Tuesday, just hours before the accident on the Gold Coast theme park’s Thunder River Rapids white water rafting ride that afternoon.

Asked how she could accept a bonus in light of the tragedy, Ms Thomas hit back at reporters. “Four people died very recently and we are all shattered,” she said. “Right now I do not want to discuss transactions. I don’t think it’s appropriate under the circumstances.”

Outgoing chairman Neil Balnaves said any bonus Ms Thomas received “relates to the prior year, a year the company performed in very good terms”. “The tragedy is only 48 hours old,” he said. “It is inappropriate to comment on commercial matters at this time.”

Earlier pressed by shareholders on whether the board should defer voting on resolutions including remuneration as some proxies may wish to revise their votes, outgoing chairman Mr Balnaves said it was “nigh impossible”.

“The company has to be run,” he said. “The coronial inquiry, the workplace health and safety inquiry under the Queensland government and our own internal inquiries are going to take months.

“It would just be absolutely impossible to not run the company without the required resolutions to do so under company law, we can’t avoid that.”

In her first comments since the tragedy, Ms Thomas told shareholders on Thursday morning that there was “very little” she could say while investigations continue.

“It is under extremely sad circumstances that we gather here in Sydney for the AGM two days after the tragic deaths of four people at Dreamworld,” Ms Thomas said.

Thomas said it was “not the time to discuss” financial matters. Picture: John Appleyard

Thomas held back tears during the AGM. Picture: John Appleyard

“I would like to express our deepest and most heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of the people killed in this tragedy. Our thoughts are with them and particularly with their children.

“Our immediate concerns remain with the families of the victims and how we can assist them in this difficult time. We are also focused on our affected visitors and staff.

“There is very little that I can say today except that we are working closely with authorities to examine exactly how this happened.”

The company, which draws around 34 per cent of its total revenue from its theme parks, said revenue lost as a result of Tuesday’s tragedy would have a “significant result” for the remainder of the financial year.

“We will provide regular updates to the market with our trading figures to ensure that the market is fully informed,” Ms Thomas said.

Mr Balnaves said the financial impact on the company had “occupied a lot of the thinking of the board in the last 48 hours”, but “not as much as grief”.

“I must admit it hasn’t been the most urgent priority as dealing with the death of four people which has occupied most of our time,” he said. “There will be a continuing effect I expect for the rest of the financial year.”

Mr Balnaves said experience of tragedies in theme parks around the world suggested the financial impact would “diminish as time goes by”. He reiterated that the company would provide “any support that’s required” to the families of the victims.

“This is a tragedy of a proportion never seen in this business before,” he said. “We’ve had 35 million people through the gate and we’ve never had a tragedy like this. The size and the impact of this is just awful.”

Citi analysts forecast attendance at Dreamworld could fall by up to 20 per cent, based on the experience of the Alton Towers rollercoaster accident in Britain last year.

Mr Balnaves expressed his condolences to the victims and thanked police and staff. “We plan to reopen the park as normal on Saturday, however the Thunder River Rapids ride will be closed until the conclusion of the coronial inquiry,” he said.

Ardent shares have dropped 15 per cent to $2.00 since the accident, falling 7.8 per cent in the first hour after the tragedy. The stock’s 67-cent fall since Tuesday has wiped more than $310 million from the company’s market capitalisation, to almost $940 million.

— with AAP