Ardent shuts Main Event in US till end of month
Ardent Leisure has dramatically shut its US-based restaurant businesses until the end of the month.
Ardent Leisure has dramatically shut its US-based Main Event restaurant businesses until the end of the month as the US attempts to combat a coronavirus outbreak.
Tough guidelines issued by US President Donald Trump have prompted the shutdown, with gatherings of more than 10 people restricted and authorities urging people not to go to bars and restaurants.
The move has knocked around the company perhaps even more dramatically than the dive in custom at Gold Coast theme park Dreamworld, which remains open.
Coming out of a trading halt on Wednesday Ardent said that following the US government’s decision to issue new, stricter guidelines to stop the spread of COVID-19, Main Event had made the decision to temporarily close all of its centres nationwide from March 17 until the end of the month.
The management team at Main Event said this was an “appropriate” decision in light of the current circumstances and said it would continue to monitor the situation to determine when the centres would re-open.
The drastic move has derailed attempts by investment bank Goldman Sachs to either find a partner to help expand Main Event or sell it off entirely.
Plans by the Gary Weiss-led board to restore value to Ardent have been demolished by the sharemarket rout and ongoing uncertainty about the US centres and local theme parks.
Ardent shares crashed by 8.9 per cent to just 20.5c on Wednesday, well below what analysts have estimated the intrinsic value of the US restaurant business and local leisure parks to be.
Morningstar analysts this week cut their fair value estimate of the stock by 58 per cent, dropping it back to 80c per share.
This reflected both the impact of the coronavirus and further delay in the recovery of its theme parks.
The analysts noted concerns about the still-evolving impact of the health scare on Ardent’s net debt to earnings ratio, which could rise dramatically in the coming period if left unchecked.
The focus could now shift to the local operations. Recent moves by the federal government to limit public gatherings to no more than 500 patrons, combined with a drop in tourist numbers, have hit visitor numbers to the Gold Coast’s theme parks.
This is expected to be exacerbated by strict new rules on international travel that will all but halt international tourism, and the reluctance of domestic travellers to go to the park.
Why more investors put their money before the environment
Sustainable investing has been a growth area in recent years but a new study suggests some people are putting it on the backburner.
Copilot a time saver but workers at odds over who benefits
Microsoft’s AI assistant saves workers an average of about 20 hours a month allowing them to concentrate on important work. But a debate has emerged about how to share those time savings.